


Sins of the Father

by Anthemyst



Series: Dangerous Beings [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Next Generation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-05-01 03:38:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14511723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthemyst/pseuds/Anthemyst
Summary: Nothing is more important to Nathalie Agreste than keeping her daughter safe. The best way to do that, however, is not always clear, especially in a world of sorcery and soulmarks, magic and Miraculouses. Nathalie has defeated her share of powerful villains in her time, but the latest one may be the most dangerous yet. If they're going to stand a chance, the Agrestes will have to finally confront the many demons of their past.





	1. Chapter 1

“I wanna hold her, I wanna hold her! Nino said I could hold her first this time!”

“Darcy, _please_ ,” Nathalie said, her daughter’s joyful cries and frenetic footfalls echoing loudly through the mansion as she rapidly approached the front door Nathalie was in the middle of opening, “I told you Amira might be asleep, you have to be patient and _quiet_ and let her-”

“Actually,” Nino interrupted as he entered, baby carrier hanging from the crook of one arm and an overstuffed duffel from the crook of the other, “she slept a lot in the car. We should probably wake her up if we don’t want her entire sleep schedule thrown off any more than it already is.” Darcy let out an excited squeal at this, and jumped up and down impatiently next to Nino while he placed the carrier down and began undoing all its various straps.

“Hi, Nathalie, Merry Christmas,” Adrien said, following behind his husband and dropping another suitcase in the foyer before hugging his stepmother. “Where’s Father?”

Nathalie rolled her eyes. “Just one or two quick things to wrap up, he said,” she quoted sarcastically. “Some things never change, I’m afraid. Did Evelyn come with you?”

Nino shook his head as he freed his infant daughter from the final strap and slowly lifted her out of the carrier. “She said she had a few more things to pick up first and she’d be right behind us.” Gently, Nino transferred the waking baby to Darcy’s eager arms. “Careful to support her head, remember?”

Darcy nodded eagerly. “I’m gonna show her the Christmas tree,” she said, before taking off for the other side of the foyer.

“Slow down!” Nathalie called after her. She turned to Adrien and Nino. “I apologize in advance if she winds up doing permanent damage, but you handed the baby over willingly so as far as I’m concerned that absolves me of all legal…” Nathalie trailed off as she caught sight of Nino’s bracelet. She stared at it for a few moments, then looked him dead in the eye. “Is that what I think it is?”

Nino followed her gaze. “Oh, um… yeah, actually,” he said, somewhat apologetically. “We were going to tell you guys all about it tonight, after the kids were asleep.”

“I knew you were thinking about it, but when…”

“About ten minutes after bringing her home,” Nino said, looking past Nathalie at Amira.

Nathalie nodded slowly. “I don’t suppose your predecessor passed on the message I gave him right after Darcy was born?”

“Uh,” Nino scrunched up his face, “if I remember correctly, it was something about redefining his entire concept of pain and suffering if he so much as thought about giving your daughter a Miraculous.”

“Close enough,” Nathalie replied. “And beloved son-in-law or no, the same goes for you.”

Nino grinned wryly. “Merry Christmas to you, too, Nat.”

“Merry Christmas, darlings!” Nathalie, Nino and Adrien turned to the center of the foyer where Evelyn had just materialized, along with ten large bags overstuffed with gifts.

“Mom,” Adrien said slowly, “who are all those for?”

“Amira, of course. Well, half of them, I didn’t want Darcy to feel left out so I-“

“She’s eight months old, Mom! She’s just going to chew on the wrapping paper, you didn’t need to buy an entire toy store.”

Evelyn looked at her son, indignant. “Adrien, this is my first grandchild’s first Christmas! You can’t honestly expect me not to spoil her a bit, I know you’re not that cruel.” She looked around. “Where is the little angel?”

“With the little devil,” Nathalie said, nodding towards the giant tree by the grand staircase, where Darcy was holding up a giggling Amira and encouraging her to reach for a particularly fragile looking ornament. “Good luck,” Nathalie added wryly, “I don’t think Darcy’s going to surrender her without a fight.”

“Hm.” Evelyn walked over and made a show of placing her overflowing bags next to the tree. Darcy’s gaze was immediately drawn and she watched silent and wide-eyed. “Darcy, love, want to give me a hand with all these Christmas presents?”

“I’m watching the baby,” Darcy said, looking back at Amira.

“Oh, I can hold her for you,” Evelyn said graciously.

“No! Nino said I could hold her!” Darcy tightened her grip and Amira laughed, delighted.

“Oh,” Evelyn sighed dramatically, “that’s too bad.” She reached into a bag and pulled out a small box. “I guess I’ll just have to find some other little girl to give this to.”

Darcy squinted suspiciously. “Mama said no opening presents until Christmas.” She looked back at her mother, uncertain.

“I’m sure Nathalie won’t mind me giving you just this one little one a day early, will she?”

“Sure,” Nathalie said, curious to see if Evelyn’s gambit would actually work, “why not?” Darcy looked torn for a moment, then held the baby out to Evelyn. Evelyn scooped Amira up at once and began cooing as Darcy eagerly began to rip off the wrapping of her gift.

Nino sidled up to Nathalie. “Your daughter just traded my firstborn to a witch,” he said, amused. “Are you teaching her anything?”

Before Nathalie could respond, Darcy let out an excited shriek. “It’s so fancy!” she exclaimed, holding up the gift. It was a pointed pendant of smoky quartz hanging from a dark silver chain, and Darcy immediately pulled it over her head. The chain was long for the girl, small as she was, and the crystal hung down to her stomach.

From across the foyer, Nathalie narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me,” she muttered to Nino, before striding over. Evelyn was still making faces at Amira, and was taken aback as Nathalie grabbed ahold of her elbow and pulled her down a side hallway.

“What are you doing?” Evelyn said, annoyed. “You almost made me drop-”

“What the _hell_ did you just give my daughter, Evelyn?” Nathalie interrupted angrily.

Evelyn’s face transformed at once into a mask of innocence. “A necklace,” she said.

“I’m not in the mood,” Nathalie snapped. “Tell me what that thing is right now, do you understand me? I know magic when I see it.”

“No, you don’t.”

“ _Evelyn_. What does that thing do?”

“Nothing,” Evelyn said, defensively. Nathalie’s glare deepened. “Well… nothing on its own, anyway. If Darcy never touches magic in her life, there won’t be any effect whatsoever. But if, say, a few years down the line, she takes it into her head to learn some magic, having been exposed to that stone for a few years first will make it much easier for her. It stretches her potential.”

“And how, exactly,” Nathalie asked icily, “would an idea like that get into her head?”

Evelyn let out an annoyed huff. “I’m not getting any younger, Nathalie,” she said. “And when I eventually decide to take on an apprentice, I’d prefer to keep it in the family. Darcy has the perfect temperment for sorcery, and you have to admit the odds of her needing it one day are high.”

“She’s six years old, Evelyn!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Evelyn said sarcastically, “that’s my mistake, I forgot that we’re living in a fairy tale world where nothing bad ever happens to six year olds.”

Nathalie folded her arms across her chest. “You know how I feel about magic.”

Evelyn grinned, then traced a finger down the side of Nathalie’s face. “You weren’t complaining about magic last week, when I used it to-”

“Evelyn, _please_.” Nathalie’s cheeks turned red, and she swatted Evelyn’s hand away. “If you want to keep Darcy safe, give her one of those emergency beacon crystals to snap if she’s in danger.”

“You know from personal experience that the beacon crystals aren’t perfect. Teaching Darcy how to protect herself-”

“Teaching Darcy how to use magic will just encourage her to go looking for trouble,” Nathalie said.

“Right now, perhaps,” Evelyn replied. “She won’t be a child forever, though. And when the time comes to teach her magic, I want to be able to teach it to her as quickly as possible. In this family, who knows how old she’ll be when she’s inevitably dragged into everything?”

“I’ve kept her out of it this long, haven’t I?”

“Nathalie, you couldn’t even keep her out of it long enough for her to be born.”

Nathalie bristled. “That’s not fair.”

“Nothing’s fair,” Evelyn snapped.

“Evelyn?” The two women turned as Gabriel emerged from his study a few doors down. “Nathalie? Why are you fighting?”

“Your ex-wife is trying to live vicariously through our daughter and teach her magic behind our backs,” Nathalie said.

Evelyn rolled her eyes. “I won’t deny I would have loved to have gotten one of those necklaces when I was Darcy’s age,” she said, “but I’m not teaching her anything without clearing it with you two first, okay?”

“You’re not teaching her anything at all!”

“Nathalie.” Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “I know you’ve had more negative experiences than most where magic is concerned, but perhaps Darcy could be spared those experiences if Evelyn-”

“Oh God, you two have already talked about it, haven’t you?” Nathalie looked back and forth between Gabriel and Evelyn. “Without me? I’m her _mother_.”

Gabriel looked away and shifted uncomfortably. “You do have a tendency to get irrational when it comes to-”

“Not helpful, Gabriel,” Evelyn interrupted. She took a deep breath, and put a hand on Nathalie’s shoulder. Nathalie tensed, but didn’t move away. “Nathalie. I promise you, I will not teach that girl a single thing without your say-so, okay? Please, please think about this from Darcy’s perspective. Nothing’s been decided, nothing’s happened, nothing’s been done that can’t be undone.” In Evelyn’s arms, Amira began to grow fussy. Evelyn gave the baby a few quick bounces, waiting for a response, but Nathalie said nothing. Sighing, Evelyn turned and walked away. Nathalie turned her glare on her soulmate.

“I’m sorry we discussed it without you,” he said, “but I won’t apologize for having Darcy’s best interests at heart.” Gabriel took Nathalie’s hands in his own. “You remember how Evelyn and I raised Adrien,” he said softly. “Overprotected and sheltered from the world, for so many years, because we feared he’d get caught up in some danger. I will not make those mistakes again.”

Nathalie bit her lip, but after a few moments she nodded. “I know I can be a bit… quick to judge, when it comes to sorcery,” she admitted.

“Heaven knows you’ve earned that,” Gabriel replied.

“But I suppose if Evelyn thinks she’s suited to it… and if she doesn’t begin learning actual spells for many, many, _many_ years…” Nathalie’s shoulders sagged as some of the tension in them finally eased, “then yes, of course I want Darcy to be able to protect herself.” Gabriel pulled Nathalie to himself, and she melted a bit into his firm embrace. “I don’t even want to think about her needing it,” Nathalie whispered.

Gabriel kissed Nathalie’s forehead. “I will do everything in my power to ensure that day does not come for a very long time.”

“I know.”

 

Eleven Years Later

 

“Darcy!” Nathalie strode down the hallways of the Agreste mansion as quickly as she could manage in the heels and mermaid style gown her husband insisted she wear to the charity event they were attending later that evening. She reached her daughter’s room, the door ajar, but the room was empty. Sighing impatiently, Nathalie turned around and went back to her bedroom. “Gabriel?”

Gabriel looked up from fastening his cufflinks. “That’s not the necklace I picked out,” he said, narrowing his eyes.

“What?” Nathalie looked down. “Gabriel, I hardly think it matters. Have you seen-”

“When you married me,” Gabriel crossed to Nathalie, placed a hand on her hip, and drew her to him, “you agreed to leave all formalwear decisions to me. No exceptions.” With his free hand, Gabriel hooked one finger on the gold chain around Nathalie’s neck, then leaned in and reached behind her, deftly unclasping it. “I enjoy dressing you, Mrs. Agreste, almost as much as I enjoy undressing you.” He smiled at the rush of desire he felt from Nathalie.

“We don’t have time for this, Gabriel,” Nathalie whispered, as Gabriel placed a soft kiss at the space where her neck met her shoulder. “The car will be here to pick us up any second, and I can’t find our daughter.” Nathalie took a step back. “Later.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Gabriel thought for a moment. “I believe I saw her on her way to the attic. She was going to practice teleporting to the foyer.

Nathalie wasn’t quite able to keep from rolling her eyes. “I’m really starting to regret letting Evelyn teach her that,” Nathalie muttered.

“If Darcy is ever in danger, being able to teleport here-“

“I know, I know.” The doorbell rang. “Lovely, that must be the driver. I’ll find Darcy and join you in the limo?” Gabriel nodded.

Nathalie made her way to the second floor back staircase, and vowed to herself to have a word with her husband on heel height maximums as she climbed it. The room at the top was filled with boxes, and even a natural organizer like Nathalie shuddered at the prospect of going through each and every one. “Darcy?” Nathalie turned a corner in the makeshift maze the boxes created, and saw her daughter standing by the window. Darcy’s dark hair was pulled back out of her face in a high ponytail, her eyes were closed, and her face was a mask of concentration. “Darcy?” Darcy didn’t respond. Nathalie took a step towards her and reached for her shoulder. “Darcy, it’s time to-“

The second Nathalie’s hand touched her daughter’s shoulder, Nathalie felt a familiar but still unpleasant yanking sensation in the pit of her stomach. She tried to pull her hand away, but to no avail. A moment later, the two of them were two floors below the attic, standing in the foyer.

“Mom!” Darcy pulled away from her mother, annoyed. “Don’t do that when I’m in the middle of teleporting, you could have messed me up!”

“How is it even possible to be in the middle of teleporting?” Nathalie asked. “I thought it was an instantaneous spell.”

“It _will_ be,” Darcy said defensively, “once I’ve got enough practice at it.”

Nathalie folded her arms across her chest. “Our deal was you could learn sorcery as long as you finished your homework before practicing. Is your homework done?”

“It’s Friday.” Nathalie raised an eyebrow, and Darcy groaned. “Fine, fine. But I can’t tonight, I have babysitting.”

“You can bring a textbook with you and study once Amira’s asleep,” Nathalie replied. “And you’d better hurry, the car’s outside waiting.” Darcy rolled her eyes, but tolerated her mother’s quick hug before running off to get her things.

Nathalie walked outside, down the front stairs, past the ordinary sedan waiting for Darcy, and opened the door of the limo waiting in front of it. Ducking down, she lifted the skirt of her gown and climbed in.

“Goodness,” Evelyn said, looking Nathalie up and down as Nathalie sat down next to Gabriel and buckled her seatbelt, “you’ve outdone yourself once again, Gabriel. Nathalie, you look stunning.”

Nathalie felt her cheeks grow hot as Gabriel handed her the necklace he’d originally selected for her ensemble, a diamond lattice choker that offered a striking contrast to the deep wine purple of her gown. “He’s ridiculous,” Nathalie muttered, as she fastened it about her neck. “He dresses me like a woman half my age.”

“Nathalie, you insist I cover up your back, so I have no choice but to show off your other stunning features.” Gabriel ran his hand over the skirt of Nathalie’s gown, up her leg until it was cupping her hip. “Not that there’s a shortage of them.”

“Still nothing backless?” Evelyn asked, as Nathalie’s blush deepened. “What a crime.”

“You both know how I feel about the damn reporters trying to get pictures of the mark.”

Evelyn leaned over. “You could keep them from getting a decent picture if you wore your hair down,” she said, her eyes bright.

“The two of you are the only people in the world who get to see me with my hair down,” Nathalie replied immediately. “I would have thought you’d enjoy feeling special.”

“Don’t worry,” Gabriel murmured, leaning towards Nathalie, his lips almost touching her ear. “You make us both feel very special.”

“Why do the two of you enjoy joining forces to tease me so much?”

Evelyn smiled. “You’re cute when you’re embarrassed,” she said happily. “Gabriel doesn’t blush half as attractively.”

 

~~~

 

“How do you think they’ll caption this?” Nathalie murmured, as she and Evelyn smiled for the event photographer. “Nathalie Agreste and Evelyn Moreau, acquaintances? BFFs? Gal-pals?”

In response, Evelyn turned her head and kissed Nathalie’s cheek just as the photographer snapped the picture. She smiled brightly at his confused expression when he wandered off. “Let’s see how they caption _that_ ,” she said smugly. “In their defense, it would probably be easier for others to realize we’re an item if I didn’t make a habit of disappearing for six month stretches at a time.”

“That’s not it,” Nathalie said, “although yes, it would be nice if you broke that particular habit. No, it’s the damn marks. God forbid Gabriel and I find happiness anywhere except with one another.”

“Let’s take the rest of this diatribe as read, shall we?” Evelyn said. “I feel I could recite it in my sleep at this point. Besides, it looks as though Adrien’s finally free.” She took Nathalie’s arm, and the two crossed the giant room, to where Adrien was just parting from one of the many wealthy couples in attendance, Nino by his side. “Adrien!” Evelyn called. “Got a spare five minutes for your mothers?”

Adrien smiled. “I’m so glad you made it,” he said, hugging them both warmly.

“It’s an impressive affair,” Nathalie said, “and I don’t say that of functions lightly. The children’s hospital is lucky to have you as their head of fundraising.”

“Thanks,” he said. “Although I may have had an unfair advantage in securing the guest of honor.” He nodded across the room, to where several donors were crowding around Ladybug herself.

“Adrien,” Nathalie said patiently, “ninety-five percent of fundraising is networking. There’s no such thing as unfair advantage.”

“There’s no such thing as an unfair advantage, period,” Evelyn added.

“You two are incredible role models, you know that?”

“You were lucky to have us,” Nathalie agreed.

“Nathalie?”

Nathalie turned to see her husband quickly approaching, his face drawn. “Are you alright, Gabriel? Usually you can last at least fifteen minutes in conversation with the mayor before-“

“The girls,” he interrupted, the second he was close enough to their group to speak without being overheard. “I keep sensing intermittent spikes of panic. One second they’re fine, the next-“ he winced suddenly.

Evelyn frowned. “Should I-“

“Wait.” Nathalie fished her phone out of her purse and quickly selected her daughter’s number.

“What?” Darcy answered on the fifth ring.

“That’s a fine way to answer a phone,” Nathalie said before she could stop herself. She took a quick breath. “Everything alright over there?”

“Why would you think it wasn’t?”

“I don’t know,” Nathalie lied. “Mother’s intuition?”

“Everything’s fine.” Nathalie heard a sudden loud scream, and next to her Gabriel winced again.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

“ _Darcy_.”

“We’re watching a movie. Amira’s just a little too into it. Don’t worry, she’s not waking up the baby. And I’ve already finished my calculus homework since we started watching, even though it’s not due until Tuesday. Happy?”

Nathalie let out a huge sigh of relief. “Yes, Darcy, very happy.” Darcy didn’t seem to know how to respond to this reaction. “Call if you need anything.” Nathalie hung up, then looked at the others. “They’re watching a movie.”

Immediately, Adrien and Nino groaned in unison. “Oh, God, it’s that stupid Mansion of Blood movie we told Amira she couldn’t watch,” Adrien said. “The last three gave her nightmares for a week, but if _Claudette_ likes it…” he trailed off, grumbling to himself. “I’m calling her.”

“Oh, don’t,” Evelyn said, putting a hand on her son’s arm. “It’s good for children to break a few little rules every now and then. And honestly, Adrien, that girl is so well-behaved I was starting to worry about her.”

Adrien rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know how you feel about well-behaved children,” he muttered. Evelyn frowned, but before she could respond Adrien turned to his father. “Thanks,” he said.

Gabriel nodded. His breathing had slowed to normal, but his face was still paler than usual. “Of course.”

Nathalie narrowed her eyes at her soulmate. “I thought you could tell the difference between genuine fear and artificial.”

“I thought I could, too.”

“You’ve been putting in a lot of overtime,” Nino said, “keeping an empathic eye on the Vespertinus situation. You might be pushing yourself too hard lately.”

“I always monitor the girls when they’re by themselves.”

“Take the night off,” Nino said. It was a friendly tone, but it did not leave even a centimeter of room for discussion.

Nathalie frowned. “What’s the-“

“Gabriel, darling,” Evelyn interrupted, “I believe they’re playing our song.” Before anyone could say another word, she’d seized her ex-husband’s arm and pulled him away, towards the dance floor. Gabriel offered no resistance.

Once they were gone, Nathalie turned to Adrien and Nino. “Gabriel didn’t tell me there was a situation.”

“He probably doesn’t need you grilling him about it right now, Nat,” Nino said.

“Thank you, I appreciate you volunteering to be grilled in his place.” Nino wasn’t quite able to keep from grinning. “What’s the Vespertinus situation?”

“Have you heard of Vespertinus?” Adrien asked.

“Of course,” Nathalie said, “I had a housemate in university whose boyfriend was obsessed. He insisted the man predicted everything from Napoleon to Nagasaki. Don’t tell me you’ve all started buying into conspiracy theories?”

“No,” Nino said slowly, “but there’s been a resurgence of interest. Some of his old notebooks were recently discovered and made public. I don’t think there’s anything dangerous in them, but,” Nino frowned. “One group in particular is gaining a lot of traction. And the man leading it has a lot of opinions about the Miraculouses. He doesn’t think they’re in very good hands at the moment.”

Nathalie frowned. “What does Vespertinus have to do with the Miraculouses?”

“He created them.” Nathalie’s eyebrows shot up. “He was very… innovative. And his new disciple is very charismatic. He’s winning over a lot of people.”

“People who think the Miraculouses are in the wrong hands? But everyone loves Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“Those aren’t the hands people disapprove of,” Adrien said. He nodded across the hall towards his father.

“Ah.” Nathalie sighed. “I thought… it’s been so many years.”

“Some people have a longer memory than others,” Nino said.

“He’d give it back, you know,” Nathalie said softly, not taking her eyes off her husband. “If you asked.”

“I know. I don’t think it’s come to that yet.”

Nathalie crossed her arms. “I know I don’t have a Miraculous, but I don’t appreciate being kept out of the loop. If there’s trouble on the horizon and you think you’re doing me some kind of favor by hiding it from me-”

“I promise, Nat, if this turns into a real problem, you will be the first to know about it.”

Nathalie’s expression softened. “Thank you.”

 

~~~

 

“Last call,” Gabriel said. He set three drinks on the table and sat down next to his wife before sliding a glass of rosé to Evelyn.

“Did Adrien say how much the silent auction made?” Nathalie asked, reaching for her glass of Cabernet.

“They’re still tallying, but based on the turnout I’d be surprised if this isn’t the most successful event of the year.”

Nathalie nodded. “Not that I’m not pleased, but I am very ready for the night to be over.”

“Me, too.” Evelyn leaned towards Nathalie and Gabriel. “Do you know what I’m going to do once I’ve got you two all to myself?”

“Fall asleep within a minute of coming in contact with a mattress?” Nathalie guessed.

Evelyn pouted. “Rude.”

“Don’t be offended, I’m right behind you.” Nathalie yawned, then turned to her husband. “This is the last time I let you put me in any heels over ten centimeters, I don’t care how absurd the resulting height difference is.” Nodding, Gabriel lifted Nathalie’s hand off the table and placed a gentle kiss at the tips of her fingers. Despite her exhaustion, Nathalie felt a pleasant electricity shoot up her arm at the touch. “Would it be terribly rude of us to excuse ourselves, when Adrien’s stuck here another hour at least?”

“I’ll call the driver,” Gabriel said. “Think you can last another half hour?” Nathalie nodded. “I imagine we’ll be one of the last to leave, the crowd’s already thinned considerably since-Evelyn?” Nathalie turned. Evelyn’s expression had gone blank, her hand had fallen away from her glass, and she looked a million miles away. Nathalie put a hand to Evelyn’s shoulder, and a second later Evelyn jolted.

“Are you alright?” Nathalie asked. “You just-”

“Darcy broke her emergency beacon,” Evelyn said, her eyes wide. Less than a second later, she was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

“...and Hugo’s already had his five o’clock bottle, but he gets another eight ounces at eight, the bottle warmer’s on the counter but it’s important to check the temperature yourself just in case it’s _too_ warm, he’ll probably wake up around eleven and have another four ounces but after that he should stay asleep, he’s starting solid foods so there are vegetable purées in the fridge, if he’s not interested don’t force it but try to give him a few options, and he needs at least ten minutes of tummy time at seven-thirty, he’s been favoring his right side so sit on his left and put the more interesting toys in front of him on that side, oh and I printed out a sheet of baby signs for you to use, he’s not signing back yet but…”

“You got all that?” Adrien asked Darcy under his breath. The two of them were watching from across the apartment as Marinette gave a wide-eyed Amira instructions for the evening.

“Please,” Darcy scoffed, “this is like the tenth emergency babysitting gig Marinette’s needed in seven months. I have this speech memorized.”

“...brought some picture books, Hugo likes the one about giraffes but the parenting blogs say it’s good to mix it up so we also have…”

“Well, I appreciate you playing along with this co-babysitter thing,” Adrien said. “Amira was in the room when the sitter called to bail, and she volunteered pretty forcefully, but her infant CPR class isn’t for another two weeks, and Marinette…” Adrien smiled. “Well, she likes to cover all her bases. Anyway, thanks. You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Do I mind getting paid the same but I make Amira do everything unless the baby is literally choking to death?” Darcy asked. “No, that’s pretty much my dream gig.”

“...should fall asleep during the first lullaby, but just in case here’s a list of…”

“Hey, Darce,” Nino said, coming down the hall. “Thanks for coming, it’s good to see you.” He turned to Adrien and held up a pair of gold cufflinks. “You bought these for me, you have to help me get them on.”

“What are those, turtles?” Darcy asked, squinting. She looked at her brother. “Is that like a Mario reference or something? You’re such a dork.”

Adrien smiled as he fastened the cufflinks on Nino. “Not exactly,” he said. “Hey, Marinette, come on, we’re gonna be late.”

“...and absolutely everything is in this binder if you have any questions, okay?” Marinette handed Amira the baby. “Mommy loves you, sweetie,” she said, kissing Hugo on the top of his head. She grabbed her clutch off the countertop and joined Adrien, smiling at Darcy as she approached. “Call me if she has any trouble, okay?” she whispered conspiratorially.

“Sure,” Darcy said.

“Thanks,” Marinette said, grabbing her wrap off the hook by the door. “I really appreciate you doing this on such short notice.”

“No problem,” Darcy said, and it wasn’t. ‘Short notice’ was Marinette’s middle name as far as Darcy could tell, but Darcy was used to it by now and didn’t mind. Marinette was pretty cool, for one of Adrien’s friends anyway, and she _hated_ Darcy’s father, which was an endless source of amusement to Darcy. It was odd, though, considering how insanely organized Marinette was about everything. Maybe the fashion world was just like that; Darcy’s father often had weird, last-minute issues crop up as well.

“The fridge is fully stocked,” Adrien told Darcy. He shrugged on his coat, and the three of them started to leave. “Don’t stay up too late!” he called to Amira as they left.

“Bye!” Amira waved, then returned her focus to Hugo. “You wanna read a book, baby?”

Darcy grabbed her bookbag and flopped down on the couch as Amira started eagerly entertaining Hugo. Darcy rifled through her bag, pulled out her copy of In Search of Lost Time, and began reading her assigned chapters. It wasn’t Darcy’s favorite book, but she quickly became immersed all the same, only occasionally glancing across the apartment to make sure Amira and Hugo were fine.

“Is this too warm?” Amira asked Darcy, shoving a bottle in her face about an hour after the adults had gone.

Darcy looked up, grabbed the bottle, and handed it back. “It’s fine.” She went back to reading. Over the next couple of hours Amira fed Hugo, read him another book, and fed him a small container of mashed carrots, all without needing any help from Darcy. It wasn’t until the baby’s bedtime that Darcy had to put down her book again.

“Hugo won’t go to sleep,” Amira said, hovering over Darcy. “I did all the steps in the binder, I read him a story and I rocked him and I sang three lullabies but every time I put him down he starts screaming.”

“Yeah, he does that,” Darcy said, not looking up.

“He does? Marinette said he usually-”

“For new babysitters,” Darcy clarified. “Just take him back into the guest room, put him down, turn the light off, maybe sing one more song, and leave.”

“But maybe you should-”

“The monitor’s already set up, we can watch him out here together, okay? I promise, he’ll be asleep in ten minutes.”

Amira frowned, but she carried Hugo back to the guest room where Marinette had set up the travel crib. A few minutes later, Darcy heard the door close, and Hugo’s familiar screams started up. She closed her book and put it away, then turned on the baby monitor. Amira sat down next to her. She picked up the monitor and watched the black and white screen nervously as Hugo continued to cry. Five minutes later she started to get up, but Darcy stopped her. A few minutes after that, Hugo abruptly went quiet, rolled over on his side, and closed his eyes. “See?” Darcy said.

Amira sighed in relief and leaned back into the couch. “Thanks,” she said.

“No problem.” Darcy stood and stretched. “I’m gonna get something to eat, you want anything?”

By the time Darcy returned to the couch, with a random assortment of things she’d found in her brother’s refrigerator, Amira had picked up Darcy’s purse and started poking through it. “Can I try your lipstick on?” she asked shyly.

“Sure,” Darcy said immediately. She took her purse from Amira and began to rifle through the layer of makeup containers, coins, various magical implements and old receipts that layered the bottom. “Here.” She handed Amira a tube, still unopened and wrapped in plastic. “You can keep that, I have like five more at home.”

“Really? Why so many?”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Dad said I should throw mine out, that black was bringing out unflattering undertones in my complexion and I should switch to a dark purple instead, so I bought a value pack so he’d shut up about it.”

Amira giggled as she tore off the plastic. “Why do you… my dad always calls Grandfather, ‘Father’.”

“Yeah, he likes to be called Father.”

So why do you call him Dad?”

Darcy blinked. “Because he likes to be called Father,” she repeated. “You gonna try that on or what?”

Amira ran to the bathroom. She was back in no time at all, her now-black lips set in a wide grin. “What do you think?”

“Bitchin’,” Darcy said.

“Yeah?” Amira pulled at one of her twin dutch braids nervously. “It doesn’t really match me like it does you,” she said, gesturing to her pastel shirt and Darcy’s fuzzy black sweater.

“Yeah, well,” Darcy reached inside her purse again and pulled out a bottle of nail polish, “want me to fix that?”

 

* * *

 

“Darcy?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you like girls more or boys more?”

Darcy looked up from Amira’s half-painted nails. “Huh?”

“Or do you like them both the same?”

Darcy shrugged. “I don’t know, it depends on the boy or the girl I guess. Why?”

“My friend Claudette says she only likes boys.”

“What? That’s mean, don’t be friends with someone who says they don’t like you.”

Amira rolled her eyes. “Not like that, she said she only _likes_ boys.”

“Oh. _Oh_. Huh. That’s weird.” Darcy went back to painting Amira’s nails.

“Right?” Amira leaned forward, eyes wide. “I told her she was being silly. What if her soulmate’s a girl?”

Darcy shrugged. “If she doesn’t like girls, her soulmate probably isn’t a girl. She probably doesn’t have one at all, most people don’t.”

“But what if-“

“Anyway, I don’t think people can really help who they like.”

“I guess not. Who do you like?”

“Me? Nobody.”

“Like Aunt Marinette?”

“What? No, I just… I’m not thinking about that for a while, that’s all.”

“Why not?”

“There’s this, uh, sorcerer thing,” Darcy said, as she carefully painted the last of Amira’s nails. “Evelyn said it’s gonna make me way more powerful if we do it, and she thinks I might be ready next year, but it won’t work if I’m not a… well,” Darcy’s cheeks went pink, “anyway, I’m not dating until after that.”

“Ohhhh.” Darcy re-capped her nail polish, and Amira held up her nails, looking at them for a moment. “That’s too bad.”

Darcy shrugged. “Eh, all my friends date each other and it just seems like more of a pain than anything else. I’d rather learn magic now and not worry about dating until university.” She sighed and grabbed her bookbag. “Especially since my mom won’t let me practice magic if my grades drop,” she added, scowling as she pulled out her calculus textbook.

“You have to do homework?” Amira asked, her face falling slightly.

“Yeah, but we can still hang out. You wanna watch a movie?”

Amira nodded. “Do you like scary movies? My friend Claudette knows the best ones, she just-wait here, I hid it in my room.”

“You hid it?” Darcy asked, once Amira returned with the DVD. “Are you not allowed to watch it?” Darcy looked at the cover and scoffed. “You’re not allowed to watch _this_? It’s not even the original Korean movie, it’s the American remake. They cut out all the actual scary stuff in this one.”

Amira’s eyes lit up. “There’s an _original_?”

 

* * *

 

“Ugh,” Darcy groaned, hanging up her phone and tossing it angrily back in her purse, “she’s so annoying, it drives me crazy.” Darcy glanced around the apartment. “Do you guys have security cameras in here?”

Amira shook her head, her attention still laser focused on the Korean movie Darcy had tracked down. “No, why?”

“My parents are always checking up on me at the weirdest times. I swear they’re spying on me or something, it’s unreal.” Darcy looked at Amira. “Are you sure you’re okay watching this?”

Amira nodded. “Sorry if I got you in trouble.”

Darcy scoffed. “I don’t care about getting in trouble. This isn’t going to, like, traumatize you though, right?”

“No, it’s fine, I like being scared, it’s fun.”

 

* * *

 

Amira woke up with a scream about an hour after falling asleep on the couch, startling Darcy. “Jesus, Amira! You said that wouldn’t happen!”

“Sorry,” Amira said, her voice shaking slightly as she sat up. “It wasn’t the movie.”

Darcy frowned. “What was it, then?”

Amira bit her lip, then looked away. “Can we watch something?” she asked, her voice small. “Something funny maybe?”

Darcy studied Amira’s face for a moment. “Yeah, okay,” she said. She picked up the remote and pulled up a menu of mindless comedies, scrolling through until Amira picked one. It started playing, and Amira grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around herself before drawing close to Darcy.

Darcy glanced at the clock hanging on the wall above the television. “It’s almost time for Hugo’s bottle,” she said. Amira nodded, then got up and began preparing the bottle. By the time it was warm, Hugo was starting to grow restless on the monitor screen, and Amira went to the guest room to feed him. She came back about fifteen minutes later and sat back down next to Darcy, all without saying a word.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about anything?” Darcy asked a few minutes later. Amira nodded, and Darcy let it go.

By the time the movie was over, Amira had fallen asleep again. Darcy started up the movie’s equally mindless sequel, and she was just beginning to drift off herself when she heard the lock of the apartment door turn. Darcy yawned and slowly pulled herself to her feet, shaking Amira awake as she heard the door open and two sets of footprints draw closer. “Hey, Adrien, how was the-” Darcy stopped talking abruptly as two men she’d never seen before in her life entered the room.

“What the-” The first one, a bulky man probably in his mid-fifties, turned to his companion. “You said everyone would be gone.”

“How was I supposed to know they’d leave the brats behind?”

For a second Darcy merely stared at them, paralyzed with fear, but then she heard Amira behind her let out a frightened whimper, and anger took over. “Get the hell out,” she snarled, stepping protectively in front of her niece.

“Well, now what?” the first one asked, completely ignoring Darcy.

“The plan doesn’t change, we grab the heirlooms and get them back to Alessandro. The kids are harmless.”

Darcy bristled at this, but she kept her retort to herself as she quickly scanned her surroundings. Evelyn had given Darcy a crystal to snap in case of an emergency years ago-Darcy had been downright excited at the thought of needing to use it one day, she suddenly remembered with a twist in her gut-but it was now lying uselessly at the bottom of her purse on the other side of the room, along with her cell phone. The men were blocking the only exit-no, wait, there was an emergency fire escape out the window of the bedroom Hugo was currently sleeping in, if they could just get to-

“We can’t let them tell the Guardian anything. Take care of them, and we’ll begin searching.”

“Maybe they know where he keeps them.”

“Fine, we’ll question them and _then_ take care of them.” The first one finally looked back at Darcy, as next to him his companion pulled out a gun. “Where does the False Guardian keep the Miracles of Vespertinus?”

 _Sorcery is ninety percent attitude_ , Evelyn had told Darcy once. _If you can convince the other guy you’re more powerful than he is, it won’t matter if it’s true or not_.

Darcy did not have much in the way of magic. She couldn’t teleport more than a few hundred meters, her telekinesis was shaky at best and useless against a living opponent, the little sparks of electricity and specks of fire she’d managed to summon wouldn’t even hurt a mouse. But attitude? Darcy had attitude in spades.

Darcy held up both palms, fingers spread wide. “You have one more chance to get out of here, and then your lives are forfeit,” she threatened, her voice steady.

“Answer the question,” the man said, his voice hard. Darcy hadn’t even understood the question, so she merely widened her stance. Concentrating hard, she summoned her magic, and it sparked and jumped from one fingertip to the next.

Another sorcerer would have recognized this as a symptom of immaturity, of weak control, but the men who had broken in were clearly not sorcerers, and they hesitated. The one holding the gun loosened his grip and turned to his partner. “Maybe we should-“

“She doesn’t know anything,” he scoffed. “Get rid of them, we don’t have all night.”

Nodding, the man lifted his gun again. With a rush of fear, Darcy flicked her wrist frantically, and the gun flew out of the man’s hand. It barreled through the apartment window, shattering the glass as it went, and fell to the street below.

 _That’s new_ , Darcy thought weakly. She stared at the window in disbelief for a moment, then she steeled herself. She’d never moved anything that forcefully before, and she highly doubted she could pull it off again, but the intruders didn’t know that.

“Amira,” Darcy said under her breath in a rush, “grab Hugo and go down the fire escape, I’ll hold them off.”

“But they-“

“ _Now_ , Amira.” Darcy reached behind herself, keeping her eyes locked on the men, and shoved Amira towards the hall. The motion snapped both men out of their state of shock, and they took a step towards Darcy in unison. “Stop!” she shouted. “You two go through the window next if you don’t leave now.”

“Come on,” the one who’d lost his gun said, “this was a bad idea, we should go.”

The other pulled out a gun of his own and aimed it at Darcy. “Put your hands down,” he said angrily. “The heirlooms have been abused and neglected for too long, and we’re not leaving without them. The utopia of Vespertinus is at hand, and your family will not…”

Amira had probably reached Hugo by now, Darcy figured. She could try telekinesis again, or she could try to grab her purse, or she could stay where she was and hope the man’s completely nonsensical monologuing went on long enough for Amira and Hugo to escape.

“...destiny at hand, do you understand?”

There was no longer a question in Darcy’s mind of _if_ she would be shot. All that mattered was putting that inevitability off as long as possible, all that mattered was giving Amira every second she could to escape. Darcy took a breath. “Maybe I can help you,” she said slowly, “if you just tell me exactly what you’re looking for?” She took a half step towards her purse.

“Stop right there, spawn of Hawkmoth.” The man glared at Darcy, then looked past her, to the hall Amira had run down. “You can’t trick me. Stand aside.”

 _Sorcery is all about asserting your will_ , Evelyn told Darcy at the start of practically every lesson. _You have to be more stubborn than reality itself, that’s the secret_. Darcy glared at the man and flicked her wrist again. This time, though, the gun merely shook a little in his grasp, and he held on easily. Grinning coldly, he aimed the gun right at Darcy and fired.

There was a deafening crack, and the sound of shattering. It took a second for Darcy to realize that she was fine, that he’d hit the lamp right behind her. How he has missed from so close, Darcy didn’t know, and then she saw something pinning the man’s sleeve to the wall behind him, a royal blue feathered dart that must have pulled his aim off right as he’d squeezed the trigger. The gun clattered to the ground. The second man took a step towards Darcy, and then two more darts whizzed past her ear and pinned him in place as well. Darcy looked over her shoulder and let out a small scream.

“It’s me!” the small figure in blue said frantically, her bright pink eyes wide with worry behind her mask. “Darcy, it’s me, it’s Amira, I’m-“ Amira yelped and threw another dart as one of the men pulled an arm free, and then threw another five darts for good measure, frantically pulling them one by one off a giant peacock fan.

Nothing made sense anymore. Darcy shook herself mentally and refocused on what little she understood. The men wanted to kill her. That was bad. They were currently immobilized. That was good, but it was temporary. Darcy quickly lunged for her purse, dumped its contents on the carpet, grabbed her sky-blue crystal, and snapped it in half.


	3. Chapter 3

Evelyn appeared a few seconds later in the middle of the room. She cut an imposing figure, dressed in a sweeping black evening gown, not one hair of her elaborate updo out of place, every muscle tensed at at the ready. She scanned the room quickly. “Darcy? What-” Darcy cut Evelyn off with a shaky gesture, pointing behind her. Evelyn whirled around and saw the two men still pinned to the wall. One pulled his arm free, but Evelyn calmly raised a hand and he slammed back into the wall. She took a decisive few steps towards them and reached out, touching each one lightly on the temple. Both men instantly fell unconscious.

“Anyone else?” Evelyn asked, keeping her hand raised and her eyes locked on the two men.

“No,” Darcy said, slowly getting to her feet, “just them.”

“Did they cast anything?”

“No.” Darcy took a deep breath; she regretted standing almost immediately. “I don’t think they’re sorcerers. They had guns.”

A flash of rage crossed Evelyn’s face. She closed her eyes for a second, and her expression cleared. She opened them again, then frowned and leaned in, examining one of the darts. “How did you…” Her face fell, and she went very still for a moment. Sighing, she turned back around and finally looked at Amira.

“Hi, Grandma,” Amira said in a small voice.

“Hello, sweetheart,” Evelyn said sadly. “You can… you can probably drop the transformation, okay? It’s safe now.”

Amira nodded. “Duusu, fan in.” There was a flash of light, and suddenly she was back to normal. Behind Evelyn, the blue darts vanished and the men fell to the ground in a heap.

“What were they after?” Evelyn asked, looking at Darcy.

Darcy shook her head slowly. “I don’t know, they weren’t making any sense, they just broke in and started going on and on about… I don’t even know, heirlooms and Vespertinus and something about a utopia and _I told you to run_!” She turned to Amira, suddenly furious.

Amira scowled. “They were going to kill you!”

“Girls-“ Evelyn was cut off as the purse hanging from the crook of her elbow started vibrating insistently. She pulled her phone out of her purse. “Hello, Nathalie. Yes, they’re both fine, but,” she glanced back at the men, “you need to get here. Now. Get Adrien and Nino and get here as soon as possible. Oh, and grab the other one if you can get her away from the crowd without drawing too much attention. Yes, I know she’s the guest of honor.” Evelyn hung up. “Your parents should be here in a few minutes,” she told the girls. “Everything’s alright now, I promise. Why don’t we just sit down, catch our breath, and-“

“How the _fuck_ did you do that?” Darcy exclaimed looking back at Amira. “You don’t know magic! _I_ know magic, I’ve been studying magic, I’ve been working at it non-stop for almost two years now and I could still barely get one gun out the window!”

Evelyn looked at the broken window. “You moved a gun that far with telekinesis?” she asked. “That’s very impressive for someone at your-“

“I took it-I’m sorry, I didn’t know what it was, I put it right back! But I kept having the dreams, and they were going to kill you, and, and,” Amira was half babbling, half sobbing, and Evelyn rushed to her and hugged her tightly, “and it happened too f-fast, Duusu warned me but I didn’t know it was _real_ , I didn’t know it was _tonight_!”

“Shhhh,” Evelyn whispered. “It’s not your fault, baby. You did very well.”

“I was almost too late,” Amira cried, clinging to her grandmother. “A second later and-“

“You shouldn’t have come back at all,” Darcy snapped. “I told you I’d hold them off so you could get Hugo and get away.”

“They were going to-”

“I know! I know what they were going to do, I knew what they were going to do when I told you to run!” Darcy’s voice was steadily getting higher, her legs were starting to shake, she knew she should sit down but she was too angry to show that much weakness. “And it would have been for _nothing_ if they’d killed you, too!”

Amira buried herself in her grandmother’s arms. Evelyn sighed, but before she could say anything there was a sudden commotion right behind Darcy. Adrenaline pumping, Darcy whirled around fist-first.

“Ow,” said Hawkmoth.

Darcy had thought she was beginning to get a handle on this evening, beginning to wrap her brain around it all, but she’d also thought the surprises were over. Adrien and Nino both moved past her, jostling her as they rushed to their daughter, and she snapped out of her shock enough to pull her fist back.

“Darcy.” Nathalie’s hand was cupping Darcy’s face before she even realized her mother had appeared with the others. “Darcy, sweetheart, what happened?”

Her mother was calling her sweetheart, her mother was using a pet name, her mother _never did that_. Somehow it was more unsettling than anything else that had happened that night. And her mother wanted to know what happened? Darcy didn’t know where to begin, so she didn’t.

“She punched me,” Hawkmoth said in the space of her silence. “She punched my face.”

“It’s the natural response to seeing it,” Nathalie immediately retorted. She looked into her daughter’s eyes, her concerned gaze piercing. “You look pale, Darcy, you should sit down.”

“I’m fine,” Darcy said automatically. Hawkmoth moved past her, towards the unconscious men. “What...why is…”

“What did they want?” Hawkmoth asked, standing over the men, his expression dark.

“Take a wild guess,” Evelyn replied, crossing her arms.

“You’re okay, sweetie,” Adrien was telling Amira, who was finally beginning to calm down, “everything’s-“

“Amira, where did you get that?” Nino interrupted, and Amira tensed.

“Well, how did they know to look _here_?” Hawkmoth asked Evelyn.

Evelyn shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“We don’t need to guess, wake them up and we’ll get answers out of them one way or another.”

“I’m not waking them up until I’m finished putting up some basic wards, who knows what else-“

“Honestly, Darcy, you look about ready to fall over,” Nathalie said, putting her hands on her daughter's arms to steady her, “you should-why is your arm wet?”

“Amira, you’re not in trouble, but it is _very important_ that you tell us how you got this and when, okay?”

“Are basic wards enough? We have no idea who else might be-“

“You’re _bleeding_ , Darcy, why are you bleeding?”

“What?” The chaos of everything that was happening faded from Darcy's focus as she looked at her arm. Her sweater was bulky enough that the rip in the sleeve wasn’t immediately noticeable, and dark enough that the blood it had already absorbed didn’t show. Nathalie’s hand came away from it bright red. “Huh,” Darcy said, frowning, “I guess the bullet grazed me. I didn’t feel a thing. That’s weird, right?”

“You were _shot_? Good Lord, Darcy, would you sit down and let-“

“Quiet!” Nino’s voice carried easily over the rising cacophony, and to Darcy’s surprise everyone immediately obeyed. “Okay,” he said, taking a breath, “there’s a lot going on right now and we need to prioritize. Adrien, go check on Hugo, then call Marinette and tell her he’s fine. Evelyn, set up those wards. You,” he pointed at Hawkmoth, “scan our surroundings for any possible backup these guys might have headed our way. I’ll heal Darcy, and after we’re all safe we can get the full story from the girls. Understood?”

One by one, everyone nodded. Darcy sat down next to Amira, and Nathalie helped Darcy remove her sweater. Nathalie gasped at the angry red gash on Darcy’s arm, and hovered impatiently as Nino bent over and placed his hand over it.

“Since when do you know healing magic?” Darcy asked. A warm energy emanated from Nino’s touch, instantly banishing the pain Darcy hadn’t noticed.

“About a decade,” Nino replied.

“Why is it a secret? Evelyn knows magic and that’s not a secret.”

“My situation is a little more complicated than hers.” Nino closed his eyes, concentrating.

Darcy was suddenly struck by an old memory. She’d been about ten, and under the supervision of Adrien and Nino for the afternoon. She’d been climbing a tree. They’d both insisted she was going too high, but that had only propelled her further up, until finally a branch snapped under her weight. The next thing she’d known was a blinding pain in her leg. Darcy had been sure it was broken, but Nino had put his hands on her and insisted she’d be fine. Not ten minutes after, her leg felt good as new.

“Did I break my leg when I was a kid?” Darcy asked Nino.

Nino smiled, his eyes still closed. “You broke a lot of things, if I remember correctly.”

“Maybe you would have learned to listen for once,” Nathalie muttered, “if we’d had you put in a cast for a few weeks to heal the normal way.” Darcy bit back a retort, because it wasn’t a terrible point.

Nino pulled his hand away. “Sorry about the scar,” he said. “Evelyn might be able to do something about it, once she’s done warding the apartment.

“Nah, I like it, it looks badass.” Darcy glanced across the room, where Evelyn was slowly circling the perimeter and muttering under her breath. She passed Hawkmoth, and quite suddenly a few things clicked together in Darcy’s head. Her father’s conspicuous absence, something one of the intruders had said, the casually wry way her mother had spoken to Hawkmoth. “Do you need to heal Dad next?” Darcy asked Nino casually. “I punched him in the face.”

Nino went still, which was incriminating enough, but Nathalie was the real giveaway. “He’s fine,” she scoffed, “he’s had worse, trust me.”

Nino let out an irritated groan. “Really?” he said, glancing up at Nathalie. “You’re supposed to be one of the smart ones in the family.”

Nathalie realized her mistake, and her cheeks went pink. “It’s very late,” she muttered defensively, “and my daughter was just shot. I’m not at my sharpest.”

Nino looked back at Darcy, who was now staring wide-eyed at her father. Hawkmoth glanced across the room at her, but stayed where he was. “What gave him away?” Nino asked Darcy.

Darcy nodded at the intruders. “They called me, uh, ‘spawn of Hawkmoth’.”

Nino paled. “They shouldn’t know that.”

“They shouldn’t know anything,” Nathalie said angrily. “How on earth did they find out so much without any of you realizing?”

“One crisis at a time, Nat.” Nino looked up as Adrien re-entered the room. “How’s the baby?”

“Still asleep,” Adrien said, holding his phone. “Marinette’s making her excuses now, then she’ll head over.”

“Text the girls, tell them to cut their patrol short tonight and keep eyes on our apartment from the roof across the street.” Nino dropped his gaze to his daughter. “Amira,” he said gently, looking at the brooch fastened to her shirt, “is tonight the first time you’ve put that on?”

Amira shook her head. “No, but… I didn’t use it before, I promise, I just-”

“It’s okay,” Nino said. “Do you remember how you found it?”

“A little,” Amira said, “but it’s fuzzy. It was in your room, in a box, it… there was a code, but I knew what it was, I don’t know how but…”

“And is that when the nightmares started?” Amira nodded, and Nino sighed. “I should have realized. Were they about tonight?”

“Some of them.”

“Do you remember any others?”

Amira frowned. “I was in a large clearing,” she whispered. “There was a farm, and a chapel, a monastery surrounded by forest. It was beautiful.” Amira started shaking. “It was so beautiful and peaceful and I don’t know why but it’s terrifying.”

“It’s okay,” Adrien said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll give the brooch back to your dad, and the nightmares will stop, right Nino?”

“It’s not that simple, Adrien,” Nino said, his face drawn. “She might need to keep it.”

“Excuse me?” Adrien looked at Nino indignantly. “She… of course she can’t _keep_ it, Nino, that’s crazy. Just because she accidentally picked it up-”

“It wasn’t an accident, Adrien, you know nothing’s an accident when it comes to Miraculouses.”

“We talked about this. We have _talked_ about this. She’s eleven, she’s way too young to get one of these things, we agreed on that!”

Nino sighed. “I didn’t think it would call to her, Adrien. That’s… it’s very rare, and ignoring it would be reckless.”

“No. Absolutely not. I forbid it.”

“You don’t have the authority to forbid it,” Nino said quietly, not meeting Adrien’s eyes. A very heavy silence fell over the room.

“Are you pulling _rank_ on me?” Adrien finally asked. Darcy had never heard her brother’s voice sound like that, it was low and dangerous and for what might have been the first time in her life Darcy noticed a resemblance between her brother and their father.

“I don’t want to-”

“Then _don’t_. I don’t care if you’re the Guardian, she’s just as much my daughter as she is yours. You can’t just unilaterally-”

“Don’t be mad,” Amira said, her voice small. “I’m sorry.”

Adrien’s expression instantly softened and he instantly looked back at his daughter and crouched down to her level. “You didn’t do anything wrong, I’m not mad at you, nobody’s mad at you. We just,” Adrien glanced back at Nino, “we both want what’s best for you and we’re having trouble agreeing on what that is, that’s all.”

“Perhaps it should wait,” Hawkmoth said, and six heads turned towards him, “until we’ve interrogated these men and figured out what, exactly, is at play here.”

Nino nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s not a bad idea. You don’t sense anyone coming, do you?”

Hawkmoth shook his head. “Alessandro’s asleep, as are the rest of his inner circle aside from these two. I won’t know for certain until we question them, but I suspect they acted alone.”

Nino turned to Evelyn. “Is it safe to wake them up?”

Evelyn nodded. “They don’t have any magic, I’ll be able to control them completely.”

“Maybe Darcy and Amira should wait in another room,” Nathalie said, “while-”

“No way,” Darcy interrupted, “that bastard shot me, I should get to know why.”

Amira grabbed Adrien’s arm, clinging to it. “Don’t send me away, I don’t want to be alone.”

“We can all go together,” Nathalie said gently. “We’ll be with you the whole time. You two have been through enough for one night. Darcy, come on.”

“No,” Darcy said stubbornly.

“Darcy-“

“Nathalie.” Nathalie looked at Evelyn. “I’d like her to stay, if you’ll allow it.”

Nathalie opened her mouth to argue, then hesitated. Evelyn didn’t usually ask nicely. “Why?”

“I think it would be educational. And I think,” Evelyn added wearily, “that we’ve hit our expiration date on keeping secrets from her.”

Nathalie pursed her lips, but nodded. Nino took a few steps towards his daughter and hugged her tightly. “You’ll be safe with your dad and Nathalie, I promise,” he told her. “I’ll be in to say goodnight once we’re done taking care of everything, okay?” Amira nodded, and Nino kissed her forehead.

“We’re not done talking about this,” Adrien said quietly to Nino, as Nathalie led Amira back to her bedroom.

“I know,” Nino said, and Adrien followed after his daughter.

Once the three of them had left, Evelyn crossed the room and stood in front of the still unconscious men. “Which one shot you?” she asked Darcy.

Darcy pointed. “That one.”

Nodding, Evelyn twisted her hand. Her fingers curled in on themselves, and an invisible force brought the man to a standing position, pinned against the wall. She glanced at Hawkmoth. “Ready?” He nodded, and Evelyn reached forward and pressed a finger to the intruder’s temple. A moment later, his eyes shot open. They darted around, but his head was frozen in place and Darcy didn’t think he could see anyone but Evelyn from where he was.

“Do you know who I am?” Evelyn asked calmly.

The man took a nervous, shaky breath. “The s-s-sorceress,” he managed to get out.

Evelyn smiled coldly. “That’s right,” she said. “And who are you, exactly?”

“Nobody, I’m not any-” Evelyn’s fingers tightened in mid-air, and the man made a choking noise. “Simon, Jean Simon,” he said, when Evelyn let him breathe again. Evelyn glanced at Hawkmoth, who was standing just out of range of the man’s vision. He nodded slightly.

“Good,” Evelyn said. “Mr. Simon, I have a few questions for you. Firstly, does anybody else know you two idiots came here tonight?”

Jean nodded frantically. “Yes, the others know, if we don’t check in they’ll come for us. Soon.”

Evelyn glanced at Hawkmoth again, and this time he shook his head. Evelyn narrowed her eyes at Jean and he let out a half-scream. She tightened her fingers, cutting off his air supply once more, but the pain was still evident in his expression. “Do you know what you just did, Mr. Simon? You just used up your one chance to lie to me. Do it again, and you won’t survive to do it a third time, do you understand?” Evelyn leaned in so her face was only a few centimeters away from Jean’s. “I am one of the most powerful sorcerers in Europe and you. Shot. My. Novice. There’s a word for that, do you know what it is?” Evelyn leaned in further, so that her lips were practically grazing Jean’s ear. “Suicide,” she whispered. “The _only_ reason you are still breathing is so you can answer my questions _correctly_.”

When Darcy was six, and in the middle of a particularly intense princess phase, she’d asked her mother if Evelyn was her fairy godmother. It was one of the few times Darcy could remember seeing her mother really, uncontrollably, almost hysterically laugh. When Nathalie had finally recovered her powers of speech, she’d told her daugher that if Evelyn was, she was the kind you didn’t invite to christenings and kept away from spinning wheels. As she’d grown older, and even as she’d begun studying magic with Evelyn, Darcy had written her mother’s answer off as merely her way of being sarcastic about the people she loved.

Darcy realized now that her mother had been speaking in complete and total earnest.


	4. Chapter 4

Queen Bee still hadn’t gotten the hang of flying.

Well, no, that wasn’t quite right. She had flying down. Landing, that’s what she hadn’t quite gotten the hang of.

Queen Bee took a quick moment to be grateful that her knees were scrape-proof while she was transformed, and another that her more seasoned partner hadn’t witnessed her spill, before picking herself up. She crossed the roof to the ledge, where Rena was currently keeping eyes on the Agreste-Lahiffe apartment across the street. “The block’s clear,” she reported. Rena didn’t respond. “You didn’t see anything, did you?” Rena’s eyes stayed locked on the window several stories below, and Queen Bee suddenly felt anxious. She’d only been doing this a few weeks, and Rena still had something to say about every little thing Queen Bee did. She’d thought she hated it, but a silent Rena was a new, unsettling phenomenon. “Rena? What’s wrong, what did I miss?” She put her hand to Rena’s shoulder-

-and it passed through easily as Rena vanished.

Queen Bee scowled. “Rena!” She turned around, scanning the roof, and her eyes landed on a satellite dish she was fairly certain hadn’t been there fifteen minutes ago. In one quick motion she scooped up a pebble near her foot and threw it. The air around the dish shimmered for a moment, and the real Rena appeared.

“Nice landing,” Rena said, dropping the pebble she’d easily caught.

Queen Bee’s scowl deepened. “That wasn’t funny!”

Rena hopped down from her perch, landing gracefully, and walked over to where her illusion had been. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to trick you, I just,” she leaned against the ledge, taking the spot her illusion had just occupied, “if these guys know where to look for the Miraculouses, they probably know to look out for us, too. Setting up a fake target until you got back seemed like a good idea.” Rena glanced at her partner. “Seriously, though, that landing, are you practicing like I told you?”

“Yes!” Queen Bee snapped, bracing herself for the inevitable lecture.

Instead, Rena tilted her head to one side. For a moment she looked every bit the fox that was her namesake. “Are you okay, Q?”

Queen Bee rolled her eyes. “Oh, fine,” she said. She looked back towards the apartment. “Less than a month in and my oldest friend’s only daughter almost got killed on my watch, but I’m fine.”

Rena sighed. “If it’s either of our faults it’s mine,” she muttered. “I’ve been doing this for over a decade now. You’re new, I’m not.”

“And you never had an issue until I joined the team.”

Rena let out a bark of laughter. “We’ve has plenty of issues, trust me.” Queen Bee didn’t respond. After a few seconds of tense silence, Rena put her hand over Queen Bee’s. Queen Bee looked up, surprised. “Look,” Rena said. “I know I’ve been hard on you, but that’s not because I…” she trailed off. “Ladybug went pretty easy on me back when I was starting out.”

Queen Bee snorted. “Yeah, I just bet she did.”

“And it didn’t do me any favors,” Rena added. “I got my Miraculous to deal with the growing threat of sorcerers, and I needed to get good fast. That doesn’t happen when your mentors are coddling you.” She bit her lip. “I’m sorry if I went too far in the other direction. You’re good, or the Guardian wouldn’t have given you that comb in the first place. We need you if we’re going to deal with these Vespertinus nuts.”

“He underestimated them,” Queen Bee said. “The Guardian might have recruited me because he was worried about them, but he didn’t think they were this dangerous, did he?”

Rena frowned. “No,” she admitted. “He didn’t.”

“If the Guardian had known they were capable of this, maybe he would have taken the time to pick someone better than me to help you guys stop them.”

Rena opened her mouth to respond, but a movement in the distance behind her caught Queen Bee’s eye. She went tense, then instinctively rose a few inches off the ground. Rena whirled around, scanning the rooftops, then reached out and grabbed Queen Bee’s elbow before the hero could take off.

“They're headed for the apartment, Rena, we need to-“

“That’s Ladybug, Q.”

Queen Bee blinked, then squinted at the silhouette. It moved with Ladybug’s determination and grace, but it was far bulkier than the sleek form Queen Bee had come to recognize. “Are you sure?”

“She’s still wearing her ballgown. From the charity event.”

“Oh.” Queen Bee finally dropped back down as the figure passed by a few roofs over and swung silently through the window of the apartment’s guest bedroom.

The two of them kept the rest of their vigil in silence, but the tension in the air had eased. Neither would have said it to the other, but they’d both been terrified something would happen to Hugo before his mother could return. Whatever else happened, at least now they wouldn’t have that on their consciences.

 

* * *

 

Amira was by nature a curious child. Bright and eager to learn, she’d had a million questions for her fathers every day of her life since the day she’d first asked “Why?”. Everything interested Amira, everything fascinated her. Her small bedroom was stuffed to the brim with relics of her various phases, books and do-it-yourself science kits and a rather nice telescope that, admittedly, could only fight so hard against the light pollution in Paris. So when Adrien led his daughter back to her room for the night, he braced himself for the flood of questions that he was certain would come.

Amira said nothing. She simply crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin.

“Want me to tuck you in?” Adrien asked, an offer he hadn’t made in years.

“Okay,” Amira said softly.

“I’m going to get you some water,” Nathalie said. She left and returned quickly, handing the glass over as Adrien finished pulling the covers tight.

“Thanks, mémère.”

“Do you need anything else, sweetheart?” Adrien asked.

Amira shook her head and took a long sip. “No, I’m fine,” she said.

“You sure?” Adrien took his daughter’s hand. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

Amira shrugged. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I took it,” she said.

“That’s okay,” Adrien said gently. “You’re not in trouble, nobody’s mad at you. We’re all so proud of you, right Nathalie?” Nathalie nodded.

“You’re mad at Baba.” Amira put the glass of water down on her nightstand, then picked up the Miraculous and pressed it into her father’s hand. “Here, take it back. I don’t want it anymore.”

Adrien looked down at the camouflaged Miraculous for a moment, his expression pained. “I’ll just put it here for now,” he said, placing it back on the nightstand. “Just in case. You don’t have to touch it if you don’t want to.”

Amira nodded and started to pull the covers up. There was a sudden soft thud from the next room, and Amira sat up, suddenly wide awake. “That’s Hugo’s room, someone’s in Hugo’s room, I have to,” she was already reaching for the Miraculous, but Adrien held her back.

“Amira, sweetheart, it’s fine,” he said. “That’s just Marinette.”

“Marinette?” Amira shook her head. “No, we would have heard her come in, they must have come in through the window.”

“Yeah,” he smiled, “that’s Marinette. Come on, I’ll show you, we’ll all go together. It’s fine.” Amira hesitated, then got out of bed and followed her father. She took Nathalie’s hand when she reached the door and peered out into the hallway, at Adrien opening the next door over. “Come on.” Amira pulled Nathalie along after her and took a step into the guest room before freezing.

Right next to the crib, dressed in an elaborate spotted ball gown, holding baby Hugo in her arms and clinging to him as though he were her entire world, was Ladybug. “Hey, Marinette,” Adrien said softly.

Ladybug looked up at him. Her eyes were wet, and she turned to Amira. “Oh!” She rushed forward and hugged Amira with one arm while still holding her sleeping baby in the other. “Thank you! Thank you so much for keeping Hugo safe, Amira.” Ladybug pulled back to look Amira in the eye, and she brushed an errant strand of Amira’s hair out of her face with a gloved hand. “Are you okay?”

Amira nodded, dazed. “Yeah,” she whispered.

Nathalie put a hand to her granddaughter’s shoulder. “Amira, why don’t I take you back to your room while your father helps Marinette get settled for the night?”

Adrien shot Nathalie a look of gratitude. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Amira looked at her father. “You’ll come back?”

Adrien nodded. “Of course, sweetheart. I just need a few minutes to help Marinette, then I’ll come to your room and stay the whole night if you want, I promise.” He smiled at Amira, and held that smile in place until she’d gone and he heard her bedroom door close once more. Letting out a shaky, uneven sigh, he sank down on the guest bed.

“Adrien, what on earth happened?” Ladybug asked, her voice small.

“Amira took a Miraculous,” Adrien said numbly. “She stopped some of Alessandro’s followers. They broke in looking for it.”

Ladybug went pale, and she hugged Hugo closer to her chest. “How did they… what else do they know? Are we all compromised?”

Adrien shrugged. “My parents are interrogating them now. I can’t…” he leaned forward, covering his face with his hands. “I know I should care, but all I can think about is how to get that damn Miraculous away from my daughter.”

Ladybug sat down on the bed next to Adrien. “She’s a good kid, Adrien, she’ll give it back if you ask for it.”

Adrien shook his head. “She already tried to give it back. It stayed camouflaged. Asking for it back isn’t enough. That thing is bound to her until she _wants_ to give it back.”

“If you and Nino explain it to her, I’m sure she’ll-”

“Nino wants her to keep it!” Adrien interrupted.

“What?”

“It’s some Guardian bullshit. He thinks it’s meant to be or something,” Adrien said bitterly. “She’s a _child_ , she’s even younger than we were and we were way too young. Nino was an adult, he had years-and I was so _supportive_! I didn’t want him to be forced into it before he was ready like we were, I thought he understood how important that was, and now this? Our daughter?”

Ladybug sighed. “Adrien, Nino loves Amira. He’s her father before he’s the Guardian. I’m sure he’s just as scared for her as you are. And, yes, maybe getting a Miraculous when we were children wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t all bad, was it?”

“It was a dream come true,” Adrien said, his voice hard. “The escape I’d spent my whole life fantasizing about.”

“Oh,” Ladybug said. She stood up and gently placed a still-sleeping Hugo back in the crib. “Tikki, spots off.” Marinette sat back down next to Adrien and wrapped an arm around him.

“You think you’re over it,” Adrien said. “It gets better and you grow up and years go by and you think it’s all behind you, and then one day you’re holding your own baby for the first time and you’re filled with this sudden terror that you’re going to do it all to her. That at the end of the day you only know one way to be a father.”

Marinette’s expression darkened. “Adrien, you are nothing like your father.”

“Then why doesn’t she want to give it back?”

 

* * *

 

“Why tonight?” Nino asked. Jean was still frozen in place, so he couldn’t see anyone but Evelyn, but he could hear just fine. Nino had taken over questioning him. Jean hadn’t tried to lie again.

“We saw an article in the p-paper,” Jean said. “Charity auction t-thrown by Chat Noir. W-we assumed the whole family would go.”

Nino winced. Amira would have gone, and Darcy might have, too, if Hugo’s sitter hadn’t fallen through. Darcy wouldn’t have been shot, and Amira wouldn’t have needed to save her.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nino noticed Darcy’s eyes widen at Jean’s mention of Chat Noir.

“How did you know they were here?” Nino asked. “Who else knows?”

“Father Alessandro. A few others. He told us how…” Jean hesitated. Evelyn narrowed her eyes, and Jean flinched. He began speaking again, much faster now. “Alessandro told us the Miracles of Vespertinus had fallen into the hands of a line of False Guardians. He told us so we could h-help him figure out how to rescue them, restore them to their intended purpose, but he didn’t know how to approach you. No leverage, see. We thought-Alessandro’s too important to risk himself like this, but we thought we’d rescue the dormant ones ourselves.”

“There are no dormant ones,” Nino said angrily. “Not anymore, not thanks to you.” Jean paled, and Nino took a breath, trying to recover his calm demeanor. “What would you have done with them, if you’d succeeded?”

“Given them to Father Alessandro,” Jean said immediately. “He’s deciphered the prophecies of Vespertinus, he knows the true purpose of the Miracles. He wants to use them to usher in a new age of human civilization, just like Vespertinus did five thousand years ago.”

Nino wasn’t quite able to keep from rolling his eyes. “Is that so?”

Jean nodded as much as he was able to, trapped as he was in Evelyn’s hold. “Vespertinus wasn’t able to finish his work,” he said. “He foresaw Father Alessandro completing his mission. The Miraculouses, the soulmarks, they’re just the beginning.”

Nino frowned. “Soulmarks? Vespertinus didn’t create soulmarks.” Jean didn’t respond, but it was clear he disagreed. “They’re… the Miraculouses, that’s one thing, we know those were forged five thousand years ago, but the marks are way older than that. They’re as old as humanity, as far as anyone knows. There are cave paintings of them tens of thousands of years old!”

Hawkmoth frowned and looked at Nino. “Is this an important line of questioning right now?”

“Yes! It…” Nino stopped himself. “No,” he admitted. It was big, it was hard to imagine anything bigger, but big wasn’t the same as urgent. “How did Alessandro know who we are?”

“Please,” Jean said, “we’ll go, we’re sorry, we’ll never-” the rest of Jean’s plea died in his throat as Evelyn cut off his air supply once more.

“Answer the question,” she said calmly, releasing his windpipe.

“He found Vespertinus’ sanctuary,” Jean said. “Vespertinus left clues, he foresaw that no one would be able to decipher them until his true apostle came to complete his work. He left behind copies of his work, his notes, for Alessandro to find.”

“Notes on the Miraculouses?” Nino asked. “And how to identify their holders?”

Jean nodded. “He knew one day they’d fall into the wrong hands.”

Nino closed his eyes. It was so late, and he was so tired, and he didn’t know where to begin. “That’s enough,” he said wearily.

“What?” Before Jean realized what was happening, Evelyn touched his temple and rendered him unconscious once more.

Slowly, Nino took a breath and let it out. “Wayzz?” The green kwami flew out of Nino’s breast pocket and hovered before him. Across the room, Darcy screamed. “Shit. Sorry. Darcy, Wayzz, Wayzz, Darcy.”

Darcy stared at Wayzz, stunned silent. Wayzz nodded politely to her before turning back to Nino. “Master?”

“I studied this shit for years, Wayzz.”

“Yes,” Wayzz said, confused, “that’s true.”

“Never really stopped, in fact.”

“You’re very… assiduous, Master.”

“So why am I starting to suspect I don’t know a goddamn thing?”

Wayzz looked away. “There are things we kwami have hidden,” he said. “Things we decided millennia ago would be better left forgotten.”

“Things like soulmarks? Did Vespertinus really create them? How is that even possible?” Wayzz said nothing.

“There is only one way I know of,” Hawkmoth said, “to make the impossible possible.”

Nino paled. “Vespertinus created the Miraculouses. Surely he knew how unwise it would be to combine them?”

Evelyn folded her arms across her chest. “That’s a very charitable view of the man,” she said. “We’re talking about a powerful sorcerer. As a breed, we’re not exactly known for our restraint.”

“Okay, fair enough,” Nino said, “but we’re talking about more than just power lust at this point, we’re talking about… about one man single-handedly remaking all of humanity. It’s insane!”

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “We’re talking about a sorcerer who was capable of thinking to himself ‘I think I’ll try enslaving abstract concepts today’, and then capable of actually _doing_ it. I don’t think sanity was ever on the table.”

“If…” the three adults looked at Darcy as she cleared her throat nervously, “if Vespertinus was insane, what does that make his true apostle? What does that make this Alessandro guy?”

The three adults in the room exchanged a look, and then Nino pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Let’s find out,” he said.


	5. Chapter 5

Nino set his phone to speaker mode and placed it on his coffee table. It vibrated against the hard wooden surface with every ring, rattling angrily. Everyone in the room watched silently as it buzzed again and again and again.

“Hello?” The voice that finally answered sounded disoriented.

“Alessandro Cattaneo?”

“Yes? Who is this, and do you have any idea what time it is?”

“This is Nino Lahiffe. And before you pretend not to know who I am, I should tell you I’m currently angrier than I’ve ever been in my entire life, and I am very much not in the mood for games.”

There was a pause. “Very well, Guardian,” Alessandro replied, sounding much more alert.

“Don’t you mean False Guardian?”

A sigh. “Is that what this is about? You don’t like my message so you call me in the middle of the night to object? A bit petty, isn’t it?”

“I don’t care about your message,” Nino said. “Preach against the Miraculouses all you want, it’s a free country.”

“I don’t preach against the _Miraculouses_ ,” Alessandro said defensively. “I have the utmost reverence for the Miraculouses. That’s why it pains me to see them used in ignorance by-“

“What I care about,” Nino interrupted angrily, “is keeping my family safe from fanatics.”

“Guardian, I have no interest in threatening your family,” Alessandro said. He sounded almost bored.

Nino’s gaze flickered towards Hawkmoth, who shrugged in response. “He feels sincere,” Hawkmoth murmured, softly enough that Alessandro couldn’t hear, “but it’s difficult to be certain from this distance.”

Nino nodded and turned back to his cellphone. “That’s interesting,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his tone. “There’s a bullet wound I just healed that says different.”

“What?” Alessandro said, confused. “You healed a bullet wound?”

“Yeah, well, you know, I guess it comes with the whole abusing the Miraculous thing. Healing minors after they’ve been shot.”

There was another pause. “Guardian, I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage.”

“Do I? Let me bring you up to speed. Jean Simon and David Blanchet, you know these men?”

“I do.”

“Any interest in vouching for their characters?”

“I-” Alessandro hesitated, and then sighed wearily. “What have they done?”

“They broke into my home,” Nino said, his voice shaking slightly. “Intent on stealing the Miraculouses I have sworn to guard and protect. That is an oath, Mr. Cattaneo, that I take very seriously, no matter what you believe of me.”

“I’m certain you do,” Alessandro replied. “It’s not your fault that you’re the victim of centuries of misinformation and-“

“Your _men_ , Mr. Cattaneo, immediately came upon my daughter and my husband’s sister.”

There was another pause. “Amira,” Alessandro said. “And… Darcy, if I’m not mistaken?”

Across the room, Darcy’s face went a shade paler. Hawkmoth took a step towards his daughter, then stopped himself. Nino’s expression darkened. “That’s right,” he said carefully. “An eleven year old girl and her seventeen year old babysitter. Your men threatened to kill both girls. Darcy held them off, to give my daughter enough time to escape with her life. She was shot for her trouble. I know for a fact that Jean had every intention of killing her when he fired his weapon in my home.” Nino waited for a minute, but there was no response. “Well? Do you have anything to say?”

“There is nothing I can say, Guardian,” Alessandro replied softly, “nothing at all which would right the wrong you have described.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page,” Nino said bitterly. He sighed, then removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “What should I do? What would you do, in my situation?”

“In your situation, Guardian, I suppose I would be very tempted to eliminate the threat posed to my family by whatever means necessary.”

Nino let out a humorless laugh. “It is tempting,” he agreed. “But when I took on this Miraculous, I swore to uphold the health and safety of all people.”

There was a small scoff. “That is not the purpose of that Miraculous,” Alessandro said derisively.

Nino’s gold eyes flashed angrily. “Right now, I couldn’t care less what you think of me, or my Miraculous, or its purpose. Men who swear allegiance to you broke into my home and attacked my family in your name. Convince me that the rest of your people don’t pose a threat to me and mine, or I’ll… My family’s _children_ , Mr. Cattaneo!” Nino slammed a fist against the table, and his cellphone jumped a centimeter in the air before landing back hard on the surface.

Again there was a pause. “I’m not sure I can,” Alessandro said. “Not like this, not over the phone, unprepared, in the middle of the night. We should meet. Let me explain my mission to you, let me tell you about Vespertinus’ true purpose for the Miraculouses you love so well. Please.”

Nino frowned. “Meet where?”

“Anywhere you like,” Alessandro said quickly. “Wherever you feel safe and unthreatened. Set whatever terms you like. Just let me speak to you.”

Nino looked over at Hawkmoth and Evelyn. Both were frowning, but neither shook their heads. “I’ll consider it,” Nino said. “It’s been an impossibly long night. I’ll call you tomorrow with my decision.”

“Of course,” Alessandro said. “What about Jean and-”

Nino leaned over, pressed a button, and ended the call. Slowly, he took a deep breath, let it out, and leaned back into the couch cushions, covering his face with his hands.

“What about Jean and David?” Hawkmoth asked, breaking the tense silence.

“We can’t let them remember tonight,” Nino said wearily, not bothering to sit back up or uncover his face. “They know too much already. Who knows what more they’ve learned from breaking in here?”

“I can do better than that,” Evelyn said darkly. “When did Alessandro start up his little cult again?”

“July,” Hawkmoth said. “Right after the excavation.”

Now Nino did sit up. “You’re going to erase everything back to July?”

“June, I think,” Evelyn said, tilting her head as she studied the unconscious men lying before her. “Just to be safe.”

“Evelyn, that’s half a year. You can’t just-”

“Nino,” Evelyn snapped angrily. “As my son-in-law, I love you dearly. But you are not my Guardian. I am not yours to command.”

“I wasn’t-”

“Do you know what any sorcerer with even a tenth of my power would do to anyone who attacked their novice?” Evelyn asked, her face briefly twisting with rage.

“You’re better than that, Evelyn,” Nino said.

“No,” Evelyn said, “I’m not.” Without another word, she crouched down and put the tips of her fingers to Jean’s forehead, muttering under her breath rapidly as she did so. A few minutes later, she turned to David and did the same to him. She rose slowly when she was finished. There was sweat on her brow, and she was breathing heavily. “There,” she said. “That’s taken care of. Gabriel, darling, would you mind,” she swayed slightly, and in an instant Hawkmoth’s arm was around her waist, steadying her, “would you mind dropping them off at one of the addresses on their identification? And I think I’d better cancel all my plans and stay with Darcy and the rest of you until this is taken care of.”

Hawkmoth nodded. “Yes, I’d appreciate that,” he said.

“I drove my car here earlier today,” Evelyn said. “Could you drive us all back to the mansion?”

“Of course.” Hawkmoth bent down, placed a hand on each man’s shoulder, and disappeared. Evelyn walked over to the couch, still shaking slightly. She ignored the look of disappointment she was getting from Nino and the one of shock from Darcy, and collapsed onto the cushions.

 

* * *

 

Rena followed after her partner and sailed through Chloe’s bedroom window, landing silently on the plush carpet. “God, I can’t believe I’ve never been here before,” she said. She straightened as Queen Bee dropped her transformation. “This place is amazing.”

“I know,” Chloe said dismissively. “Do you, like, want a tour or something?”

“Gee, after that gracious offer?” Rena rolled her eyes. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Uh.” Chloé looked around. “I can make espresso. If you want.”

“No, I’d hate to wear out my welcome.” Rena stretched and turned back towards the open window. “It’s been a long night for both of us, I’ll-“

“Don’t!” Shocked, Rena looked at Chloe. “I mean-ugh, whatever, go.”

Rena stared at her for a moment, and then silently released her transformation. “Trixx, give us a minute, would you?” Her kwami nodded, then followed Pollen out of the room. “Okay, what gives?”

Chloe folded her arms over her chest and huffed. “It’s nothing. I’m a superhero now, I don’t need a babysitter.” Alya continued to stare at Chloe patiently, until Chloe let out an exasperated groan. “Fine. It’s dumb, I just, Nino said those guys know who we are.”

“Yeah,” Alya said, “I know it’s creepy, but Nino doesn’t think any of them will-“

“I had a stalker once.”

Alya blinked. “Oh. I… I had no idea, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Chloe said defensively. “Just a boyfriend in university who got a little too obsessed. I mean, who could blame him, right?” She gave Alya a forced smile, but dropped it when Alya didn’t smile back. “Anyway. I had to file a restraining order and move and change my phone number and all this stuff, and it really wasn’t that bad and I was totally over it but hearing about these Vespertini guys just kind of brings it all back I guess.” Alya nodded. “And before you ask, no, I do not want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” Alya said easily. “Whatever you want.”

“Thank you.”

Alya looked around the room. “So do you want me to stay in here or crash on the couch?”

Chloe blinked. “Huh?”

“I mean, just based on this room, I’m sure your couch is amazing, but I haven’t slept on one in at least eight years. And I know there’s only one bed in here, but it looks like it could fit five superheroes easy. So whatever makes you feel safest is fine by me.”

Chloe hesitated. “Ifyoucouldstayinherethatwouldbenice,” she mumbled in one quick breath.

Alya smiled. “Great,” she said. “Does that espresso offer still stand?”

 

* * *

 

The first half of the drive back to the Agreste mansion was made in tense, awkward silence. It was Evelyn who finally broke it.

“I want to take Darcy to Stonehenge,” she said out of nowhere, “so that she can attune her power to the ley lines there. The winter solstice is Sunday night. I should have just enough time to get her ready.”

Nathalie glanced over her shoulder at Evelyn. “You said Darcy wouldn’t be ready for that ritual for another year.”

“Darcy’s already far more powerful than any of us realized,” Evelyn said. “She proved that tonight.”

“By almost dying?” Nathalie asked bitterly.

Darcy opened her mouth to protest, but Evelyn put a hand to Darcy’s shoulder, silencing her. “After this ritual,” Evelyn said, “Darcy will never have to worry about guns again. Men like Jean and David will be nothing to her. This will help keep your daughter safe, Nathalie.”

Nathalie pursed her lips and tapped her fingers against her arms for a moment. “I don’t want that Cattaneo man finding out about it,” she finally said. “He knows far too much already, and I don’t care how sincere Gabriel thinks he is, I don’t trust him.”

“Of course,” Evelyn agreed. “I can get us there without being seen. Darcy won’t tell anyone she’s leaving, and no one will be any the wiser.”

“Dejah’ll know something’s up,” Darcy said. “I need to cram for the next thirty-six hours, and they’ll wanna know why I’m bailing on our plans for tomorrow.”

“Plans?” Nathalie frowned. “What plans?”

“They were gonna come with me to get my nose pierced,” Darcy said with a heavily feigned nonchalance.

“You- _what?_ ” Nathalie twisted around in the passenger seat to gape at her daughter. “When, exactly, were you planning on mentioning that to me or your father?”

“Your nose?” Gabriel repeated, confused. “Of all your facial features, is that really the one you want the eye drawn to, Darcy?”

“Oh my God!” Darcy exclaimed angrily. “How did I never realize you were a supervillain?” To Darcy’s surprise, this actually silenced her father.

“Darcy, that’s enough,” Nathalie snapped.

“Like you’re any better?” Darcy leaned forward. “I can do _math_ , you know. We learned about Hawkmoth in school, and you two were definitely dating during his villain period. When did you realize you were dating a supervillan, anyway?”

Evelyn snorted. “You mean when did she realize she was dating a fashion designer,” she muttered. Darcy’s eyes widened.

“Not helpful, Evelyn.” Nathalie took a breath. “Darcy…” She hesitated, then sighed. “Get all the piercings you want when this is over, I don’t care.”

Darcy blinked. “Really?”

“You’ve earned that much, I suppose,” Nathalie said softly. “But we can’t have you throwing all this in our faces every time you don’t like some decision your father or I make, do you understand?”

Darcy nodded slowly, then shook her head. “No-I mean, yes, I get that, but I can’t understand what nobody tells me anything about, can I?”

Nathalie sighed again. “That’s fair,” she said. “What do you want us to tell you about?”

“Everything!” Questions about everything Darcy had seen, everything she’d learned in the past few hours, came to her in a rush, and for a second she didn’t know where to begin. “Why is Dad Hawkmoth, why is Adrien Chat Noir, why is Nino everyone’s boss, how long were you going to keep everything from me, why didn’t you _tell_ me?”

“We were waiting for you to come into your power a bit more,” Evelyn said. “We wanted to prepare you first.”

“We almost made it,” Nathalie muttered. “We thought we were so smart, we thought we’d figured it out perfectly.”

“As for the Miraculouses,” Evelyn said, “they’re not something you need to worry about.”

“Why not?” Darcy asked. “What if I get one?”

“Over my dead body,” Nathalie said immediately.

“Your mother’s right,” Evelyn said, before Darcy could protest. “Trust me, darling, they’re fine for people like your brother and his friends, but it’d be a waste of your natural talents to saddle you with one of those infernal things.”

“Then why does Dad have one?”

Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Your father is atoning,” she said dismissively.

“That is a gross oversimplification,” Gabriel said, his voice tight.

“You’re really overdoing it, too,” Evelyn added. “Two decades of playing hero to make up for one year of delinquency? It’s excessive.”

Nathalie snorted derisively. “Whatever you have to tell yourself so you don’t feel guilty for not putting a stop to it in the first place.”

An awkward silence fell over the car. Darcy wanted to ask more, but she had the sudden sense of being near the edge of a cliff. “So… Stonehenge,” she finally said.

Evelyn nodded. “I’ve got a book back at the mansion you should try to finish between now and tomorrow night. I expect we’ll run into a few other sorcerers with their own novices, although not as many as we would at the summer solstice.”

“Why?” Gabriel asked. “Is the ritual not as effective at this time of year?”

“Or is it just uncomfortable dancing stark naked under the light of the full moon in the dead of winter?” Nathalie asked dryly.

“Actually… yes, that’s the exact reason,” Evelyn replied.

Nathalie raised an eyebrow. “What, really?”

“Well,” Evelyn said. “There’s no dancing, and the moon’s waxing for another week.”

Nathalie pursed her lips together. “Remind me why I let my daughter anywhere near sorcery?”

“Because she’d be dead tonight if you hadn’t,” Evelyn snapped. “And I’ve had just about enough of your snide attitude towards it.”

“I already agreed to let you take her to Stonehenge, I don’t have to be _happy_ about it.”

“Nathalie,” Gabriel said softly. “I can personally assure you that nobody in this car is happy right now.”

Nathalie’s annoyed expression faded. She looked back at her daughter. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” she said softly.

Darcy’s cheeks turned pink. “It’s fine.”

“It isn’t,” Nathalie said. “You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save Amira, and we are all so very proud of you for that, but you never should have been put in that position to begin with. And I promise you, Darcy, all three of us are going to make sure you never are again.”

 

* * *

 

Nino held himself together until all his in-laws left for the night. The second Nathalie closed the door, however, he began shaking. He didn’t notice it at first, not until he tried to check the time on his phone and could barely read the screen for how much his hand was moving. “Shit,” he muttered. He took a deep breath, then another. On the third he began to feel slightly dizzy, remembering too late that hyperventilating was a thing.

Nino wanted desperately to see his daughter. To make sure she was safe, to hold her and never let her go. It wasn’t enough that she was in the next room, that Adrien was with her, that everything was taken care of. He forced himself to slow down his breathing, and the moment he was sure his legs could support his weight he was up and practically running to her room.

The door was slightly ajar, and the light was off. Nino took half a step in, and only relaxed when he saw Amira. The light from the hallway fell across her face, and in her sleep she looked impossibly calm. Adrien was sleeping next to her, they were crowded together on her twin bed and Adrien’s arm was draped protectively across Amira’s waist.

Nino kept his vigil there for as long as he could, but the hour was terribly late and every cell of Nino’s body cried out in exhaustion. Nino caught himself beginning to nod off, practically falling over before he managed to wake himself up. Nino sighed, then slowly stepped back into the hallway and moved toward his bedroom.

Halfway there, he stopped at the guest room door, which was also ajar. He poked his head inside. “Marinette?” he said softly.

“I’m awake,” she murmured. Nino stepped into the room and smiled. Marinette was curled around her own child, the infant taking up an impossible amount of space sprawled on the mattress. “Are you alright?”

Nino sat down gingerly at the edge of the bed. “I don’t know,” he said. “Are you?”

Marinette shook her head and didn’t take her eyes off Hugo. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know,” Nino repeated. “We get some sleep, I guess. I’ll call a meeting tomorrow. We’ll try to figure this thing out together.”

Marinette nodded. “A meeting for all Miraculous holders?”

“Yeah.”

“Including Amira?”

For a few moments, Nino was silent. “Adrien’s never going to forgive me for this, is he?”

“Adrien is the most forgiving person I know,” Marinette said immediately. “God knows he’s had to be.”

“This is different. This is his daughter.”

Marinette reached over and took Nino’s hand, squeezing it hard. “She’s your daughter, too. In his heart, Adrien knows you’ll always do what’s best for her. He’ll forgive you.”

“Well,” Nino said wryly, “that makes one of us.”


	6. Chapter 6

Alya Césaire’s usual alarm didn’t go off, and she woke up slowly. She was on a mattress that was far more comfortable than she was used to, cocooned in sheets that were far softer, and for the first time in a long time there was a warm body pressed against her, breathing steadily, arms wrapped around her waist. All in all, it was a lovely way to begin the day.

Eventually, the memory of the previous night’s events came back to her.

Alya opened her eyes and looked down at Chloe. She was almost a completely different person asleep. Content, soft, vulnerable.

 _It’s because you’re not scolding her_ , a small voice in Alya’s head whispered.

Alya probably hadn’t done a great job of hiding her skepticism when Nino first told her he had his eye on Chloe, and Chloe’s attitude over the past few weeks had all but confirmed her reservations in her mind. Chloe was haughty and condescending and rude, and it felt like the more Alya pushed her to be better, the worse she got. Now, for the first time, Alya found herself wondering exactly how much insecurity and fear that attitude was covering. She found herself wondering how far a little faith and confidence in her part might have gone instead.

Alya’s phone began buzzing on the nightstand. Careful not to jostle Chloe, she reached for it and answered. “Hello?”

“Alya?” It was almost noon, but Nino sounded exhausted. “We need to meet.”

“What, everyone?”

“Yeah. Alessandro wants to talk. We need to figure out how to do that safely, and we need to know everything the kwami have been hiding from us first.”

Alya’s eyes darted over to Trixx and Pollen, curled up together and asleep on a nearby cushion in imitation of their masters. It was a little too easy to forget that their adorable companions had lived through the last few centuries. They’d witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations. They possessed ancient and terrifying knowledge. “Right.”

“How soon can you be here? Marinette spent the night, and Adrien’s talking to his father now. I haven’t called Chloe yet but-“

“I’ll talk to Chloe,” Alya interrupted in a rush. “We can be there in,” Alya looked back down at her partner, “two hours?”

“Perfect. Thank you.” Nino hung up, and Alya put her phone back down. As carefully as she could, Alya slid herself back under Chloe’s duvet, pressed herself against the fledgling heroine, and drifted back to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Darcy was almost three hours into heavy spellbook studying when she finally remembered to text Dejah and cancel their plans. About thirty seconds later, her phone rang.

“You’re actually calling?” Darcy asked, answering. “I thought you hated talking over the phone.”

“Not as much as I hate backstabbing ex-best friends,” Dejah said, annoyed. “I need to yell at you directly. What the hell?”

“Look, maybe next weekend-”

“Lucas might not be working next weekend! The whole _point_ ,” Dejah groaned dramatically, “was we finally found out what his shifts were this week. This was my big chance! Now how the fuck am I supposed to find some reason to hang around the shop for an hour?”

Darcy flipped to the next page, and her eyes immediately crossed at the detailed diagram. “You could get something pierced yourself?” she suggested.

“Ew, no. I can’t be cool and flirty if someone’s stabbing a needle into me. You have to do it. Plus if you cry, I’ll look like a good friend for being there to hold your hand and shit. Come _on_ , whatever it is just blow it off.”

“Can’t.”

“Since when? You blew off your dad’s huge retirement gala last spring, and this is way more important than the concert we went to.”

“Uh huh,” Darcy said, squinting at the arcane symbols. “Exactly.”

“Oh my God, you’re not even listening to me.”

Darcy blinked, then shut her tome. “You’re right, I’m sorry. Look, I promise I will find out when Lucas has another weekend shift, okay? I wouldn’t be flaking if it wasn’t really, really important.”

There was a heavy pause. “What’s going on?” Dejah asked, all hint of their previous irritation now completely vanished. “Are you okay? Are you in trouble?”

“What? No, of course not.”

“You’re a really bad liar, you know that?”

Darcy sighed. “It’s… complicated. Some stuff came up, and now I have to cram so I can do that Stonehenge ritual tomorrow.”

Dejah let out a small scream. “ _Tomorrow_? You said you weren’t sure your mom was gonna let you do that next _year_ , and now she’s letting you do it tomorrow? Did she have an aneurysm or something?”

“She’s not that bad,” Darcy said.

There was another heavy pause. “Did my hearing aid bug out, or did you just say something nice about your mom?” Dejah asked. “Holy shit, what happened?”

“Nothing,” Darcy said defensively. Dejah scoffed. “Well… Okay, last night, I might have, maybe, gotten slightly, uh. Shot. But I’m fine,” she added quickly, “Ni-uh, Evelyn took care of it, it’s fine, but it’s magic stuff that I can’t talk about and we need to move up the ritual, that’s all.”

Dejah was silent for a moment. “Is there anything I can do to help? Anything you need?”

“No, seriously, everything’s fine. I just need to study this weekend, that’s all. And after tomorrow, I’ll be like ten times more powerful than I am now, it’s gonna be great. Really, you don’t need to worry.”

“Well… okay,” Dejah said skeptically. “But if you need anything at all, you just have to ask, got it?”

Darcy smiled. “Thanks, Dejah, I appreciate that.”

 

* * *

 

“Where’s that baby?” Alya demanded upon entering the Agreste-Lahiffe apartment.

“Hello to you, too,” Nino said wearily.

“The greatest auntie in the world needs her baby fix,” Alya said, pushing past Nino impatiently. “Ah ha!” Alya spotted Hugo in the middle of a pile of soft toys on the other side of the apartment, and quickly hurried over and picked him up.

“Sorry we’re late,” Chloe said, annoyed.

“It’s your fault,” Alya called over, before blowing a loud raspberry on a delighted Hugo’s tummy.

“As if!” Chloe scoffed. “This is my first superhero shindig, and Alya didn’t warn me until we were on our way here that it was our job to buy wine.”

“We had plenty of time to buy a bottle at that little shop a block from here.”

“Look, Césaire, I’m very certain that nothing sold in that shop can legally even be _called_ wine. Here,” she shoved two bottles into Nino’s hands, “you guys are so lucky I joined the team, I mean honestly.”

Nino’s eyes widened as he read the label on the bottles. “Wow, uh… thanks, Chloe.”

“I’m gonna eat this baby,” Alya announced to the room. “He’s too cute. I’m sorry, I have to do it.” She pressed her face to Hugo and began to make loud biting noises. Hugo’s laughter filled the apartment.

“He missed you,” Marinette said, smiling gently from the couch.

Alya looked at her friend and lowered her voice. “You alright, girl?”

“Uh,” Marinette shook a hand back and forth and grimaced, “ask me in forty-eight hours?”

Alya gave Marinette’s knee a sympathetic pat. “Chloe! Come hold this baby!”

“No thank you,” Chloe called over, “this outfit already has the ideal amount of jam on it, namely none, and I’d hate to upset that delicate balance.”

“Jam?” Marinette turned and leaned over the back of the couch to shoot Chloe an indignant look. “What century do you think this is?”

“Babies are sticky in every century.”

“Yes, but in this century Hugo is sticky from organic purées made from locally sourced fresh fruits and vegetables, thank you very much.”

“Sticky is sticky, Marinette.”

“Aunt Chloe!” Amira poked her head out of her bedroom and rushed down the hallway. Before Chloe could say another word, Amira had her in a tight hug.

“What is this, Bring Your Kid to Superhero Team Meeting Day?” Chloe asked, before patting Amira’s head awkwardly. “Hello, small person. I heard you were a total badass last night.” Amira blushed. “Better yet, I heard I’m not the newest kid in school anymore. Does that mean Césaire gets the kid and I can finally start flying solo, pun intended?”

“You and Alya stay partnered up,” Nino said calmly. “I’ll be training Amira myself. And she’s not going to be patrolling, or using the Miraculous any more than absolutely necessary. It’s just for keeping her safe. Right?”

Amira nodded up at her father, her eyes wide. “Right,” she agreed. There was a knock at the apartment door, and Amira rushed over to open it. “Grandfather’s here!” she announced loudly.

“Your apartment is miniscule, Amira, I hardly think an announcement is in order. Everyone can plainly see who has arrived.”

Nino smiled wryly. “Good to see you too, Gabriel. How’s Darcy?”

Gabriel shrugged off his winter coat. “Studying. It would be a welcome change of pace under almost any other circumstances.”

“Oh, Darcy!” Marinette’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth, suddenly mortified. “I completely forgot to call her and thank her. After everything she did-”

“That is hardly necessary, Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Gabriel said, taking a seat on the other side of the open living room.

Marinette shot a glare at her former arch-nemesis. “Maybe not for _you_ ,” she said, “but in my book it’s rude not to thank someone when they use themselves as a human shield to protect your only child.”

Gabriel’s face went a few shades paler, and his eyes flickered to the bullet hole in the wall a few meters away. “You’re right,” he said softly. “I don’t believe I’ve ever properly thanked you for all the times you’ve protected Adrien. From me, no less.”

Marinette looked stunned. “I wasn’t fishing for that,” she said defensively.

“I know.” Gabriel took a heavy breath. “Darcy has been through quite an ordeal, and I’m afraid it isn’t over yet. She has very little time to prepare herself for tomorrow’s ritual. I would consider it a kindness, Miss Dupain-Cheng, if you would delay your call until afterwards. I don’t think it’s quite hit my daughter yet, that her favorite superhero regularly hires her to babysit. She might not be able to afford the distraction.”

Marinette hesitated a moment, then nodded. Nino walked over from the kitchen, carrying a large assortment of the kwamis’ various favorite foods, followed by Chloe with the wine. “Adrien!” Nino shouted. “Everyone’s here! You can-oh.” Nino stopped shouting as Adrien abruptly entered the room. “We’re, um, ready to begin.” Adrien nodded, not meeting Nino’s eyes, and sat down next to Marinette, who immediately put an arm around him. Once everyone was seated, the kwami began to appear. Plagg was first, diving at top speed towards the pile of cheese at the center, followed closely by Tikki, Pollen, Nooroo and Trixx. “Wayzz,” Nino said.

Wayzz appeared before Nino. “Master?”

Nino sighed. “What have you been hiding from us, Wayzz?”

Wayzz looked uncomfortable. “I don’t think we have time to cover everything, Master. There are centuries of-”

“Fine.” Nino took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. “What does Alessandro Cattaneo know that we don’t? How did he find out who we are?”

“I wish I knew, Master. Vespertinus was…” Wayzz trailed off, then looked at Tikki helplessly.

“He was a paranoid nutcase,” Plagg said helpfully, before Tikki could speak.

“Plagg!”

“What? He was! Look, I owe the guy a lot, I never would have tasted Camembert if he hadn’t created my Miraculous, but let’s not pretend he wasn’t, you know, completely bonkers.”

“Vespertinus began to grow concerned, in his later years, that the Miraculouses would fall into the wrong hands,” Wayzz said. “He creates many failsafes that, for obvious reasons, he kept hidden from us.”

Chloe frowned. “Why is that obvious?”

One by one, the other adults in the room all looked at Gabriel. Gabriel sighed. “When I acquired the Butterfly Miraculous,” he said matter-of-factly, “the first thing I did was force Nooroo to reveal every secret he knew about all the Miraculouses. If Nooroo had known how to identify Ladybug and Chat Noir…” Gabriel looked at Adrien and fell silent.

“You would have realized it was me and given up a lot faster?” Adrien suggested, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Gabriel looked away. “Perhaps it is for the best we never had to find out.”

There was a tense silence. Finally, Nino cleared his throat. “So was Vespertinus paranoid or wasn’t he?”

“Not at first,” Wayzz said. “His initial precautions were reasonable. However, Vespertinus became obsessed with the idea of altering the course of human history, of ‘fixing people’, as he put it. When I suggested to him there might be wisdom in letting humanity dictate its own course, in not overreaching…” Wayzz trailed off again.

Nino’s expression grew dark. “What did he do to you, Wayzz?”

“It was a long time ago, Master.”

“He strengthened the Miraculous’ hold over us,” Pollen said. “We were bound so tightly we fell dormant whenever our Miraculouses were put aside. I wasn’t awake after that. None of us were, except for Duusu.”

Nino turned to Amira, who had watched everything unfold in wide-eyed silence. “Duusu?” he said softly. A pair of pink eyes blinked up at him from behind one of Amira’s braids. “Can you join us?”

“I told him to stop,” a small voice replied. Amira turned towards her shoulder, and Duusu poked her head out cautiously. “He wanted to see everything, it was too much, he wanted visions of things I couldn’t show him, he-you can’t force it, I told him, not if you want to know what you’re seeing, not if you want it to come out right!”

“Is that when he wrote the prophecies?” Alya asked. “Is that why they’re such a mess?”

“Have you read them?” Marinette asked.

Alya leaned back and bounced Hugo on her knee. “I skimmed them, back when Nino told me Vespertinus was the creator of the Miraculouses,” she said. “Maybe I should have studied them more, but they just seemed so vague and useless. Nobody’s ever managed to predict anything big ahead of time with them, you know? Interpretations are always tailored after the fact. I thought… I mean, lots of accomplished geniuses had weird side interests. Newton was obsessed with alchemy, the Curies believed in mediums.” Alya shrugged. “I assumed Vespertinus was like that.”

“What did he want to see?” Nino asked Duusu. “What was he trying to do?”

Duusu shook her head and retreated back into Amira’s braid. Nino turned to Wayzz. “He wanted to end human suffering,” Wayzz said. “At first he thought the Miraculouses would be enough to accomplish that. But the more his power grew, the more he saw of the world, the more he became convinced that the true root of human suffering was choice itself.”

“Choice?” Nino repeated, confused.

“Vespertinus believed that magic could make people’s choices for them better than they could themselves,” Wayzz said. “He thought people would be happier being told what to do, where to live-”

“Who to love,” Adrien interrupted. He exchanged a look with Nino, both their faces drawn.

“Soulmarks,” Nino murmured. He wasn’t quite able to suppress his shudder, and both Adrien and Gabriel shifted uncomfortably as well. “Tikki? Plagg?”

Tikki came to rest on Marinette’s shoulder, and Marinette patted her head gently. “He used the combined power of our Miraculouses to bring soulmarks into existence,” Tikki confirmed. “He rewrote history, and paid for it with his life. We didn’t want to, but by then it was impossible for any of us to refuse him.”

“We got the last word at least,” Plagg said smugly. “He would have hated the marks Sugarcube and I made.”

Nino frowned. “Why?”

“Does it matter?” Gabriel snapped. “The marks exist, for better or worse. I find myself far more concerned with what else Vespertinus may have set in motion.”

“Gabriel has a point,” Marinette said, though she sounded annoyed about it. “Why was Vespertinus willing to sacrifice his life for the marks, if they were only a small part of what he wanted for humanity? Did he not know the wish would kill him?”

“He knew,” Wayzz said, “but he thought he’d found a way to cheat death, a magic that would ensure he’d reincarnate. He thought he’d return one day to finish what he’d started.”

Nino’s jaw dropped. “Reincarnation is possible?”

“Oh, no,” Wayzz said confidently. “He was quite mistaken about that. I tried to explain, but he wouldn’t listen. He never would, that’s the trouble with sorcerers, the greatest of them still have more hubris than wisdom. That’s why when we were reawoken after his death, we founded the Order of the Guardians. We chose men of humility, men who understood the limits of magic, men who would help guide and heal humanity instead of trying to shape it to their will. We did our best to unravel the hidden secrets of Vespertinus’ work, and the first of the Grimoires was written. But Vespertinus hid much we were never able to find. It seems Alessandro Cattaneo has succeeded where we failed.”

Nino leaned back and let out a long, heavy sigh. “So… so Vespertinus had this big crazy vision for how to use the Miraculouses, and we don’t even know what it was. And he thought he’d be, what, resurrected? That he’d come back and save humanity from itself? And now there’s Cattaneo, there’s this man that found his long-lost work and immediately used it to gain a _following_ , a group of converts so blindly committed to him that they’d go so far as to-“ Nino stopped himself from finishing the sentence. He looked at his daughter, and his expression grew hard.

“Oh,” Alya breathed. “Cattaneo thinks he’s Vespertinus, doesn’t he?”

“It seems the logical conclusion,” Wayzz said sadly.

“And he wants to meet us,” Nino muttered. “Wants to… what, convince us all to surrender our Miraculouses to him?”

“That will not be happening,” Gabriel said darkly. “Whoever this man _thinks_ he is, he is no sorcerer. He has no power over us. We’ll meet with him and convince him that if he threatens us or our families again, we will destroy him and every trace of his fledgling religion.”

“Yikes, Hawkmoth, reign it in,” Chloe said, rolling her eyes.

“My father’s right,” Adrien said. “We need to meet with this guy as soon as possible and make him understand we’re serious about protecting ourselves.”

Nino nodded solemnly. “Agreed.”

 

* * *

 

“I should think this went without saying, love,” Evelyn said, as she calmly took a sharp left turn on one of the back roads of Wiltshire, “but don’t mention anything… _sensitive_ to the other sorcerers or their apprentices. In fact, best to let me do all the talking.”

Darcy glanced at Evelyn, then went back to staring out the passenger window. “Sensitive as in Miraculouses?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“Of course you aren’t, dear. I just… well, I know it’s all still very new. You probably haven’t had enough time to process it all properly. I’m sorry about that.”

Darcy nodded. “Why do you and Mom hate them so much?”

“Oh, it’s not that,” Evelyn said, a little too quickly.

“I mean, I know Mom hates all magic anyway,” Darcy continued, “but I would have thought you’d like them.”

Evelyn pursed her lips and kept her eyes on the road. “I held one once,” she said. “Amira’s, as a matter of fact.”

Surprised, Darcy turned towards Evelyn. “And?”

“We weren’t a good fit,” Evelyn said tersely.

“Oh.” Darcy wasn’t sure how to phrase what she wanted to say next. “But Adrien has one.”

“He does.”

“And that’s okay?”

Evelyn sighed. “I tried to put an end to that once,” she said. “It didn’t go well. Do you have any questions about the ritual?”

“No.” Darcy looked back at the empty road. “Wait. What about tourists?”

Evelyn grinned. “One of the many advantages to power, darling, is the ability to keep unwanted people away. There won’t be anybody but sorcerers for miles, don’t you worry.”

They made the rest of the drive in relative silence. Darcy’s head was still reeling, both from the events of Friday night and the intense forty-eight hours of cramming that had followed. Evelyn pulled the rental car up mere meters from the stones, and Darcy could see about a dozen figures standing within them already, backlit by the early sunset. One figure broke away and slowly approached as Evelyn turned the car off, and waved as they exited.

“Well met!” the man called. “And who is it that joins us this…” He trailed off as he came close enough to recognize Evelyn. “Madame Moreau, it is an honor!”

“Edmond, it’s been too long,” Evelyn said cheerfully. “Let me introduce you to my novice, Darcy Agreste.”

Edmond’s eyes widened a bit at Darcy’s name, but he simply took her hand and bowed his forehead to it. Darcy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Miss Agreste, an honor as well. Will you be observing with-“

“Darcy will be participating,” Evelyn corrected firmly.

“My! She’s so young-but of course any novice of yours would be a prodigy.” Now Darcy did roll her eyes, but Edmond’s attention was back on Evelyn. “Allow me to announce you to-“

“Oh, there’s no need for a fuss,” Evelyn said. “Although there are one or two things I need to see to for Darcy before the ritual starts, I’m afraid I didn’t have time to prepare fully. Would you do me a favor and get her settled with the other novices?”

“Of course! Right this way, Miss Agreste.” Evelyn gently nudged Darcy, and Darcy followed after the sorcerer. “It’s only four this year-well, five now-but if you have the chance to come back in six months, the summer solstice is a much more social event. It’s a pity, though, the magic attracts aurora borealis at this time of year and it’s truly remarkable.” They reached a group of four people, all close to Darcy’s age, packed close together near the edge of the ring. “One last-minute novice,” Edmond announced. “Good news for you lot, five’s better than four. Darcy, meet Mateo, Lotte, Jacques and Bea. You’ll all get Darcy up to speed I’m sure, and we’ll be summoning you shortly.” Edmond left quickly.

Darcy waited for one of the others to say something, but all four merely stared at her in awkward silence. “So,” she finally said, “why’s five better?”

The tallest girl, Lotte, looked Darcy up and down. “Because we’ll complete the pentagram,” she said. “Obviously.” Darcy heard one of the others snicker, but in the dim light of evening she couldn’t tell who it had been. “Aren’t you a little young?”

Darcy shrugged. “Guess not.”

“Hmm. So you’re Edmond’s apprentice, then?” Darcy opened her mouth to correct her. “Well, that’s fine I suppose, I guess he had to pick _someone_ , didn’t he? And of course he’s been doing this attuning ritual for decades so you probably know all about it. Maybe you could give us some tips?” Lotte looked as though she doubted it.

“Actually-“

“Is that a potential stretcher?” Lotte interrupted. Before Darcy could stop her, Lotte had grabbed the smoky quartz pendant hanging from Darcy’s neck. “It is, isn’t it? I’m surprised Edmond could manage it. I’ve never met another novice before who wore one.” She lifted up her own pendant and waved it in front of the others. “Still, even with that thing, sixteen’s a bit young. Are you _sure_ you don’t want to wait another year?”

Darcy yanked her necklace out of Lotte’s grasp. “I’m seventeen. And I’m not-”

“Oh my _God_ , look who it is,” Mateo said, pointing suddenly.

“Who?” Darcy turned around to see Evelyn making her way towards the other senior sorcerers, near the center.

“That’s Evelyn Moreau.”

Instantly, every other novice turned. “No it isn’t,” Lotte said derisively. “It’s…” she gasped softly.

Darcy looked back at the others, thinking fast. “Who’s, um,” she kept her voice as casual as possible, “who’s Evelyn?”

Lotte gave Darcy a withering stare. “She’s only the most powerful sorceress in _Europe_ ,” she said.

“I heard she killed Ian Girard,” Jacques said. “He was this alchemist who discovered the elixir of eternal youth, but Evelyn didn’t want anyone else to have it so she stole the formula and murdered him.”

“It wasn’t eternal youth,” Bea said, “it was a true love potion, everyone knows.”

“Everyone?” Darcy repeated skeptically.

“God, did Edmond teach you anything?” Lotte asked. “Bea’s right, everyone knows it was a true love potion, and you know what she did with it?”

Darcy bit back a sharp retort. “No, I don’t,” she said meekly.

Lotte leaned forward. “She used it on her ex-husband,” she said. “Gabriel Agreste, have you heard of him? It was Evelyn’s magic that made him one of the richest, most successful fashion designers in the world, but Gabriel betrayed her. He left Evelyn for his soulmate, so to punish him Evelyn used the true love potion on him _and_ his new wife. Now they’re both Evelyn’s mindless playthings.”

Darcy blinked. “What.”

“Well, I heard,” Bea said, “that she was going to kill the soulmate, but she had mercy at the last moment and made a deal instead. An even trade, a life for a life. Evelyn took her firstborn, see, just like the sorceresses of old used to.”

It was starting to occur to Darcy that she might have let all this go on a bit too long, but it was far too late to do anything about it now.

“People don’t make deals for _babies_ anymore, that magic predates the Veil.”

“The most powerful sorcerers do, that’s where the best ones get their apprentices.”

“Oh my god, she’s coming over,” Mateo hissed. Everyone looked again. Evelyn was approaching, along with another of the sorcerers. “Bea, isn’t that your uncle?”

Bea nodded. “He’s mentioned her before, he was there, the night she killed-”

“Darcy!” Darcy braced herself as Evelyn reached them. “Darcy, darling, I wanted to introduce you to Victor Roux. Victor, this is my novice, Darcy Agreste.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Agreste,” Victor said. Darcy could feel every pair of eyes fixed on her as she shook his hand. “I do hope your teacher will allow me to remember this meeting,” he added, and Darcy was surprised to see an almost mischievous look in his eye. “She completely erased my memory of the first time we met, and I’m sure if it hadn’t been for that it would have been _quite_ unforgettable.”

“Oh, really, Victor,” Evelyn said breezily, “it was either that or kill you, and you can take my word for it that killing you would have been far easier. I should think you’d be grateful.”

“Eternally,” Victor replied. He put his arm around Bea and gently pulled her towards Evelyn. “My sister’s only daughter, Beatrice Fischer.”

“It-it’s nice to meet you,” Bea stuttered.

Evelyn smiled warmly. “It’s nice to meet you, too. And it’s nice to see more women getting into the practice as well. Why, when I was your age it was almost entirely men, but young sorceresses like you and Darcy, you’re the future of our craft, I just know it.”

A bell sounded, and Darcy noticed that the sun had set entirely. “That’s our cue,” Evelyn said, as Victor and the novices all began to move away. “Darcy, Edmond’s got you over here, at the westernmost stone.” Darcy followed, trying to put everything she’d just heard out of her head. She couldn’t afford to think about it now, she couldn’t afford to think about anything but getting through the ritual. “Here, I just finished this,” Evelyn said, pulling a small silver chain from her pocket and draping it over the crown of Darcy’s head. “I wish I’d had a month to really let it-but it doesn’t matter, you’ll be brilliant, I just know it.” Evelyn helped Darcy shrug off her coat and the rest of her clothing. Darcy could just make out the others getting undressed, but the light was fading fast, and everyone was just vague shapes and shadows. “How are you feeling, love?”

“Freezing.”

Evelyn smiled. “That’ll fade quickly, once the magic of the ley lines begins to seep through the Veil. You’re not nervous, are you?”

Darcy shook her head. “No, I’ve got this,” she said confidently.

“Good girl.” Evelyn leaned forward and pressed her lips to Darcy’s forehead. “I’m so proud of you, we’re all so proud of you.”

Impulsively, Darcy threw her arms around Evelyn and hugged her tightly. “Thank you,” Darcy whispered. “For teaching me magic, for believing in me, for… for everything.”

Another bell rang out, and now Darcy could see the beginnings of the aurora borealis, bright streaks of green and purple beginning to form and dance in the sky above them. They seemed impossibly close, as though the sky was closer to the earth in this place of ancient magic. Evelyn released Darcy and gave her a gentle push towards the center of the stones. Bracing herself, Darcy walked forward.


End file.
